A Sister's Tale The Chamber of Secrets
by GregsMadHatter
Summary: In their second year of Hogwarts, things begin to heat up at Hogwarts. Rachel and Amanda continue their relationship with Fred and George and Elliot continues to try and discover who she really is. FredOC GeorgeOC RonOC AU Part 2 of the AST series.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: A Sister's Tale: The Chamber of Secrets**

**Summary: In their second year of Hogwarts, things begin to heat up at Hogwarts. Rachel and Amanda continue their relationship with Fred and George and Elliot continues to try and discover who she really is and what had happened in her past. FredOC, GeorgeOC, RonOC AU Sequel to A Sister's Tale: The Sorcerer's Stone.**

**Spoilers: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets**

**Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns everything having to do with Harry Potter, however, I own Elliot, Rachel and Amanda.**

**Chapter 1**

Ah, summer! What a brilliant season. July was ending and August was fast approaching. My birthday, July 31st, was coming up and I was looking forward to it. A birthday at the Burrow was the best birthday compared to anywhere else. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and given me a scarlet and gold coat for the cold days in December. Percy had give me a book called _100 Easy Ways to Pass Wizarding School_…like I was going to read that. Fred and George had given me a whole kit of jokes and pranks that I knew I was going to have fun with at Hogwarts. Amanda and Rachel had given me a black and white pin-striped fedora while Ginny gave me scarlet and gold gloves with no fingers. However, Ron had decided to do something extra special. He had grabbed both of our brooms and took me flying around the Burrow. After my small date with Ron was over, we had a magnificent feast and a large cake in the shape of me riding my broom at my first Quidditch match. How marvelous the thing tasted. I didn't want that day to end, but unfortunately, night rolled around and we had to go to bed. When we had gotten back to the Burrow after our first year at Hogwarts, Mr. Weasley had built in three more rooms for us. My room was right next to Ron's while Laura's and Rachel's were on either side of Fred and George's. But just when I couldn't think the day could get any better, it did. While I was sleeping in my room, I felt someone jumping on my bed. I slowly opened my eyes and saw Ron staring at me. "Elliot! Get up!"

"What?" I asked groggily.

"Fred, George and I are going to Harry's house and rescuing him from those Muggles. You wanna come?"

I quickly sat upright and became fully awake. "Yeah, let me grab my coat and slippers."

After I had grabbed my things, we had gone to Rachel and Amanda's rooms and asked them if they wanted to come. Rachel was all for it, but Amanda said, "No bloody way! I don't want to get in trouble with Mrs. Weasley. You guys have fun getting yourselves killed."

Shrugging her off, he quickly piled into the car and headed towards Surrey. Fred was driving the car while Rachel and George sat up front with them, leaving Ron and me in the back. The ride was amazing. The night sky was beautiful, especially when you were flying in it. Finally, we dived down next to Harry's home where we saw bars on his window. Fred shone the headlights through the window, causing Harry to wake up. When we pulled up next to the window, Ron and I leant out and Ron greeted, "Hiya Harry!"

"Ron? Fred, George, Rachel? Elliot? What are you guys doing here?"

"Rescuing you of course! Hurry up and get your trunk," I smiled.

Harry quickly grabbed all of his belongings as Ron attached a hook to the bars on his window. "Better stand back," said Ron.

Then, Fred drove away from the house, pulling the bars off of Harry's window. Quickly, we put Harry's trunk in the trunk of the car and put Hedwig in the back with us. Just as Harry was about to get into the car, the evil Muggle known as Vernon Dursley came running in and tried to stop Harry. As soon as Harry was in, Fred hit the gas and pulled Dursley out of the window. As soon as we were gone, Ron turned to Harry, who was sitting with us in the back, and said, "By the way, Harry, Happy Birthday."

Wait, it was Harry's birthday too? That was just too weird. That brought up the memory of what Voldemort had told us at the end of last year. But…I still didn't think it was just right. The ride didn't take as long, and as soon as we got to the Burrow, we walked through the door quietly, hoping not to get noticed. Harry looked amazed as he stared around the house. "It's not much, but its home," said Ron.

"I think it's brilliant!" smiled Harry.

Funny, that's how I felt. Before we could get up the stairs, Mrs. Weasley came running down, her face super red. "Where HAVE you been? Bed's empty, no note, car gone! You could have died, you could have been seen!" she shouted, completely ignoring Harry's presence.

"They were starving him, Mum. They put bars on his window," said Ron in self defense.

"Well, you had better hope that I don't put bars on all of your windows. Of course, I don't blame you, Harry. Come, time for a spot of breakfast."

As we sat around the table, Amanda, Percy and Ginny came walking down the stairs to the table. Amanda, Fred, George, Rachel and Percy sat on one side while Ginny, Harry, Ron, and I sat on the opposite side. As Mrs. Weasley served the breakfast, Mr. Weasley came running through the door. "Busy night, last night. Nine raids!" he shouted as he sat down.

As soon as he sat down at the head of the table, he noticed that Harry was sitting here. "Hello, who are you?"

"I'm sorry, sir. I'm Harry, sir…Harry Potter."

"Are you really? Well, everyone's been telling us about you. When did he arrive?" asked Mr. Weasley.

"This morning. Your boys, Rachel and Elliot flew to Surrey and back in that enchanted car of yours."

"Really? How did it go?" asked Mr. Weasley.

We were about to answer when Mrs. Weasley hit him on the arm. "I mean, that was very wrong of you…very wrong."

As we continued eating our delicious breakfast that morning, Rachel asked me, "So Elliot, are you okay?"

I knew she was just saying that to tick me off. Unfortunately, it got me so mad that I had launched a knife at her, and she kicked back just in time for it to miss her. "Elliot! You know we can't do magic outside of school!" shouted Amanda, appalled by what I just did.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to…" I began, completely stuttering.

"It's quite alright, dear. You didn't mean to do it and there are no Muggles around, so you should be just fine," comforted Mr. Weasley.

"Hey Elli, can you pass the butter?" laughed Fred.

I glared angrily at Fred. I knew I wasn't going to get any break from the twins. Then, before I knew it, the butter flung at his head and hit him square in the face. Everyone at the table laughed, but I was beginning to grow afraid. That was doing magic twice in a mere five minutes! I was so expelled. While everyone laughed, Mr. Weasley could see the tension on my face. "It's alright, Elliot. I'm sure they'll let you by for those. This house runs on magic," he comforted.

But I was still scared. As we sat at the table, the family owl, Errol, came flying in…more like flying into the window. Percy walked up to the window and took the envelope from the owl's mouth. "Oh look, it's our Hogwarts letters. And they've sent us Harry's as well," he stated.

"Dumbledore doesn't miss a thing, does he?" asked Mr. Weasley.

"These books aren't going to come cheap, Mum," said George as I looked at our book list.

"We'll manage. Well, there's only one place we're going to get all of things; Diagon Alley. We shall go there this weekend. But for now, we have work to do."

---oOo---

That night, I was laying in my bed staring at the ceiling when I saw out of the corner of my eye my door open. I got up to see who had entered my room, but saw no one was there. I figured it must have been the wind, so I got up from my bed and closed the door. After the door was closed, I heard someone laughing. Turning around, I saw a very ugly creature jumping on my bed. I stared in shock as the creature turned to me and said, "Elliot Potter? What an honor it is!" he said as he bowed low.

"Elliot…Potter? My name is not Potter, its Croft."

"Elliot Potter does not know who she is?"

"I know who I am, but I don't know who you are," I replied.

"I'm sorry, Miss Potter. I'm Dobby, ma'am. Dobby, the house elf."

"A house elf? I'm sorry if I sound rude, but…why are you here?"

"Dobby had to come. Dobby had to warn Elliot Potter that…it is difficult to say, ma'am."

"Well, why don't you sit down?" I suggested.

With a small bow, Dobby sat down on the bed while I pulled up a chair. "Strange things are going to happen at Hogwarts. There's a plot; a plot to make bad things happen. Elliot Potter must not return to Hogwarts."

"What plot? Who's plotting them? What are you even talking about?"

Dobby then began to freak out. "Dobby…cannot…say," he muttered.

"Okay, I get it, you cannot…" I began when Dobby picked up my lamp and began banging it on his head. The racket he was causing I was sure going to wake up Mrs. Weasley. "Okay, Dobby! Stop!"

Dobby suddenly put the lamp down and looked at me. "Promise Dobby Elliot Potter will not go back to Hogwarts."

"Or what?"

That's when Dobby ran out of my room and down the hall. "Dobby!" I whispered as I ran after him. When I had finally caught up to him, I saw that he was standing outside of Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's bedroom. Before I could figure out what he was going to do, I saw that Dobby was making Mrs. Weasley's favorite vase slide towards the edge of the table. "Dobby, don't! Mrs. Weasley will kill me."

"Elliot Potter must say she will not go back to Hogwarts."

After letting out a sigh, I said, "Alright, I won't go back to Hogwarts."

"Does Elliot Potter promise?"

"Yes, now put the vase back."

Dobby nodded and set the vase back onto the table. As Dobby began to walk away, I silently shut the door and told Dobby "I'm going back to Hogwarts whether you like it or not."

Dobby let out a loud wail, which caused the light in Mrs. Weasley's room to turn on. "Elliot must not go to Hogwarts."

"Elliot? What's going on out there?" asked Mr. Weasley.

I was about to tell Dobby I would not go to Hogwarts only to find that he had disappeared. As I stared at the spot that Dobby had disappeared from, Mr. Weasley came out of his room with a candle in hand. "Elliot? What are you doing out of bed?"

"I was just…er…"

"Get back to bed, young lady, or you'll have to clean out the attic by yourself, understand?"

"Yes sir," I quickly replied as I ran back to my bedroom and slammed the door. If I ever saw Dobby again, I was going to strangle him myself. But what Dobby told me played through my mind…and why the bloody hell did he keep calling me Ms. Potter? As these thoughts flooded my brain, I soon found myself falling asleep.

TBC…


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The weekend had finally come, which, of course, meant our trip to Diagon Alley. After we had each gathered our traveling cloaks, we met in front of the fireplace to get ready for our shopping trip. As Mrs. Weasley grabbed the flower pot full of Floo Powder, she said, "All right, Harry dear, you first."

"But Harry's never traveled by Floo Powder before," stated Rachel.

"All right then. Percy, you go first."

So, Percy took a handful of the powder and stepped into the fireplace. As soon as he said his destination very clearly, he was gone in a rage of green flames. Harry looked completely petrified as he stared at us all. "Alright Fred, you next."

I had expected Fred to pull of some crazy twin switcheroo like he always did, but this time, he grabbed Amanda by the hand and led her into the fireplace. "Fred, what are you…?"

"Making this go quicker, Mum," smiled Fred as he and Amanda stared deep into each other's eyes. I let out a small giggle as they held their hands together tightly and disappeared into the green flames. When it came to George's turn, he and Rachel did the same thing, causing me to let out a loud laugh, which I covered very quickly. I could tell that Ron was giggling quietly next to me as Mrs. Weasley said, "Ron, you go next. AND THEN Elliot. After that, Harry will follow and Ginny after him. We'll be right behind you dear."

I smiled at Ron as he walked into the fireplace alone and disappeared into the green flames. When it came to my turn, I took the powder into my hands and stepped into the fireplace. After taking a deep breath, I shouted, "DIAGON ALLEY!" and let the powder drop into the ashes. I could feel myself being squeezed through the small vortex that soon transported me to my destination. As soon as I had arrived, I flew out of the fireplace and, unfortunately, into Ron's arms. I hoped that this wasn't going to end up being a habit. "Ron and Elliot sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" sang Rachel and George.

After I gave them a very evil look, we all turned to watch Harry come out. After five minutes, it wasn't Harry that arrived, it was Ginny! "Ginny? Where's Harry?" asked Amanda.

"Isn't he with you?" she asked as Mr. and Mrs. Weasley appeared. "Now, do we have everyone?" asked Mrs. Weasley.

"No, Harry's not here," I stated.

"That's alright. I'm sure that he hasn't wandered off too far. Maybe we'll find him as soon as we get into Diagon Alley. Now come, we have a stop at Gringotts to make," assured Mr. Weasley as we walked out of the shop and into the bright alley of Diagon Alley.

The large complex was crowded, as usual. Students and adults alike ran from shop to shop, purchasing whatever they thought they needed. Towering in front of us, of course, was Gringotts. What an amazing and safe place. However thought about robbing it was out of their minds. As we walked into the large bank and led to the cart that took us to the vaults, I saw the goblins hard at work. The first stop came to the Weasley's vault that wasn't very far from mine. I thought they were going to be loaded, but when I saw their vault, my heart sank. There was only a little bit of silver, a couple pieces of gold, and some bronze knuts as well. They had it rough. Before Mrs. Weasley could grab any of her money, I quickly shouted, "Mrs. Weasley, I can give you some money to help buy school supplies."

"Oh, that won't be necessary."

"It is! You put a roof over my head after Hagrid saved us from those Muggles. It's the least I can do."

Where was this kindness coming from? I had no idea whatsoever. But, Mrs. Weasley finally gave in and stilled grabbed a couple pieces of silver to satisfy herself. The next stop came to my vault that was still full of money. After I had grabbed plenty to stretch for myself and the Weasley's, we headed to Rachel's and Amanda's vaults. But when we got to Amanda's and saw the large quantity of money, what Dumbledore told me about her parent's last year didn't quite add up. How could Amanda be a Muggle-born and be richer than the pure-blooded Weasleys? It was all too confusing. It was definitely something I was going to ask Dumbledore when we got back to Hogwarts. After we had walked back into the baking sun, we saw a very familiar figure walking towards us with two students. It was Hagrid…and he had Harry and Hermione! We ran up to Harry, each giving him a hug in relief. After we had given Hermione a hug as well, Hagrid quickly rushed off to leave us to our shopping. "Alright, you know what you need. I'll be purchasing things for Ginny, so I'll leave you to get your supplies. We'll meet at Flourish and Blotts at half after noon."

And with that, Ginny and Mrs. Weasley were gone, leaving me with my friends. Amanda and Fred smiled at one another as George whispered something into Rachel's ear. "Well, shall we?" I suggested as we walked down the stone streets of Diagon Alley.

We were just about to walk into Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor when Rachel and George decided to run off somewhere, leaving me stuck with Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred and Amanda. What were they up to, anyway? But we proceeded through and bought ourselves a butterbur and Pumpkin Pastries as George and Rachel came running back with a box…box that was in the shape of brooms. "What are those?" I asked as I took a large bite of my pastry.

"A Nimbus 2000," smiled Rachel.

I nearly choked on my pastry as soon as those words left Rachel's lips. "You got yourself a bloody broom?!"

"You didn't think we were going to allow you, Harry, Fred and George all the fun playing Quidditch, did you?" smiled Rachel as George placed his arm around Rachel's shoulders. Angelina and Katie weren't going to like this. As we went walking through Diagon Alley, killing the excess time that we had before we were supposed to meet at Flourish and Blotts, we all decided to go our separate ways. Rachel and George went off in one direction while Fred and Amanda went into Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. Amanda, being the girly girl she was, had done what a normal girl would do, which was drag her boyfriend clothes shopping with her. But what I was more interested in was what George and Rachel were doing. I turned to Harry, Ron, and Hermione and gave them my evil grin. "Oh no," sighed Hermione as I began running off after Rachel and George.

I could tell that Harry, Ron and Hermione were keeping up because as soon as I spotted them, I stopped them dead in their tracks and pulled them behind the large bush on the side of the Magical Menagerie. Rachel and George were walking around Diagon Alley laughing…and holding hands! This was perfectly priceless. As soon as I determined it was safe, I guided everyone to follow me. We watched our little entertainment show as George snatched a few flowers from the bushes and handed them to Rachel. Oh how disgusting love was…but yet, so entertaining. As we continued to follow them, we watched as George and Rachel began shoving one another until George finally swept Rachel off the ground and carried her kicking and screaming. Man was I going to have some dirt on Rachel after this day. We were about to follow them further until my watch sounded half past noon. I could tell Rachel and George had heard it because they turned around and almost caught us. But luckily, Harry, Ron, Hermione and I ducked out of there just in time and made our way back to Flourish and Blotts, where Fred, Amanda, Ginny and Mrs. Weasley was. Mr. Weasley was out front, talking to two people who Hermione explained were her parents. They looked extremely nice. I knew ALL Muggles couldn't be as bad as the Fredricks…or the Dursleys for that matter. Of course, I was going off of speculation from what Harry had told us. I NEVER want to meet them. But Flourish and Blotts was more crowded than usual. Rachel and George had just arrived as we walked through the double doors. "What's going on?" I asked.

Everyone shrugged as we grabbed our _Standard Book of Spells Second Year_ and moved further into the line where Mrs. Weasley and Ginny were waiting. "Oh, there you are dears," smiled Mrs. Weasley.

"What's going on?" asked Rachel.

But the sign in front of us said it all. The sign read;

_Gilderoy Lockhart: Book Signings from 12:30 - 4:30 PM_

Hermione and Amanda sighed as they read the sign. "Gilderoy Lockhart?" I asked.

"He's the most magnificent wizard ever," explained Amanda.

Rachel, Harry and I turned and looked at her in disbelief. "How did you know that and we didn't?" asked Rachel.

"Because _I _read and _you _don't," was her reply.

I just shrugged when a loud clapping sound filled the room. We all looked to see a man with gold-blonde hair and a gold outfit walk out of the back, waving at smiling at his fans. "He's a phony," I said.

Harry, Ron and Rachel looked at me. "How do you know that?" asked Rachel.

"Just look at him. That smile, his outfit…he probably couldn't even do the simplest of spells," I replied.

Just then, a small, grubbily man came running through shouting, "Move! This is for the _Daily Prophet_."

Lockhart posed and smiled when suddenly, his eyes fell on Harry and me. "It can't be…Harry and Elliot Potter."

My eyes opened wide as he said this. "Wait, I'm not…" I began but the man ran back and dragged Harry and me to Lockhart.

After the man shoved me and Harry forward, Lockhart wrapped his arms around us and smiled, "Smile, together we raid the front page."

The bright flash from the camera blinded me for a second and then Lockhart began to speak. "Ladies and gentlemen, when dear Harry and Elliot Potter walked into Flourish and Blotts to purchase my autobiography _Magical Me,_ they had no idea that they would be walking out of here with my complete works…free of charge."

I could see Amanda, Hermione, Ginny and Mrs. Weasley sigh in love as Rachel, Fred, George and Ron looked disgusted. After Lockhart had shoved the books into our arms, he sent us back to allow people to come up and receive an autograph from him. When we reached Mrs. Weasley, she took our books and said, "Alright dears, you go finish purchasing your things and I'll get these signed for you."

"That's quite alright, Mrs. Weasley. I don't need my…"

"It's fine dear, now go purchase your books," interrupted Mrs. Weasley.

I could tell that she just wanted to get our books signed so that she could spend more time with Lockhart. As we walked away, I said, "Man, I'm getting pretty annoyed with this whole 'Elliot Potter' business. First Voldemort, then this House-Elf and now…"

"Wait…a house-elf? You mean Dobby?" asked Harry.

"Yeah, how did…?" I was about to ask when Malfoy jumped in front of us and smiled, "Bet you loved that, didn't you. Famous Harry and Elliot Potter. Can't even walk into a bookshop without making the front page."

"Listen, I'm getting really tired of this. I'm Elliot _Croft_, not Elliot _Potter_. Get that through your thick little head or I'll kill you," I snarled.

"You wouldn't dare."

I was just about to answer when a tall, lanky, older-looking-Malfoy came up behind Draco. "Now, now, place nice, Draco…Ah, Harry Potter! Draco has told me a lot about you. And I see that you have Elliot Potter with you as well. I thought Draco was lying when he told me that you were attending Hogwarts as well. The man that killed your parents was legendary."

I was about to correct him when Rachel placed a hand on my shoulder. Harry, however, proceeded in saying, "Voldemort was nothing more than a murderer."

"You must be very brave to say his name."

"Fear in a name only increases fear itself," stated Hermione very bravely.

Mr. Malfoy turned and looked at Hermione and Amanda. "Ah, you must be Ms. Granger and Ms. Janine. Yes, Draco has told me all about you…and your family. Muggles, aren't they?"

Amanda looked stunned at what Malfoy said. That's when I remembered that I hadn't told Amanda or Rachel what Dumbledore told me about their parents. As Amanda stared in shock, Mr. Malfoy turned and looked at Ron. "Let's see, red hair, vacant expressions…" he then picked up Ginny's books from her cauldron, "Second-hand books, you must be the Weasleys. I see that you've accompanied yourself with Ms. Sinclair. You are very lucky."

As Mr. Malfoy placed Ginny's books back into her cauldron, with one extra that I noticed, Mr. Weasley came running up from behind us. "Got your things do you?" asked Mr. Weasley happily.

"Arthur Weasley," smiled Mr. Malfoy.

Mr. Weasley looked up and stared angrily at Mr. Malfoy. "Lucius. What are you doing here?"

"Getting Draco ready for school, same as you. However, I can afford the best," snarled Lucius.

I could tell that the snide remark Lucius gave Mr. Weasley angered him. Before I could react, Mr. Weasley jumped on Lucius and they began to fight. We all cheered for Mr. Weasley to win, but unfortunately before Mr. Weasley could do any damage, the shop owner and another wizard I hardly knew ran up to the fighting adults and pulled them apart. Lucius had a bleeding lip and Mr. Weasley had a black eye. "You'll pay for that, Weasley. Come, Draco," snarled Lucius as he led Malfoy out of the shop.

"See you at school," smiled Draco to us as he followed his father out of Flourish and Blotts.

After they had left, Mr. Weasley encouraged us to get our books quickly so we could head back to the Burrow. After our purchases were done, we said good-bye to Hermione and her parents and disappeared back into the fireplace in which we had arrived from.

---oOo---

That night when all others were asleep, I was laying awake in my bed, thinking of the events that had taken place that day. And how did Harry know about Dobby? That was the very interesting part. Figuring I should go talk to him, I quietly crept out of my room and next door to Ron's. Harry was sharing a room with Ron for the time being, so I was careful not to disturb Ron. When I peered in, I saw Ron fast asleep and Harry staring out the window. "Harry? Can I come in?" I whispered.

Harry turned to me and nodded. Quietly, I shut the door and sat down on Harry's bed. "So, how did you know it was Dobby that visited me?" I asked, wanting to get straight to the point.

"Because he visited me too. Said I couldn't go to Hogwarts because dangerous things were going to happen. What did he tell you?"

I stared at Harry in shock. Was this just a mere coincidence? I didn't think so. "Elliot?"

"Sorry, what was the question?" I asked.

"What did he tell you?"

"Well, he kept calling me Ms. Potter…which really got on my nerves. And then he told me I couldn't go to Hogwarts because dangerous things were going to happen. Strange, don't you think?"

"What do you mean?"

"Strange because it just so happens that AFTER Lord Voldemort told us that little prophecy thing, everyone begins calling me Elliot Potter and that a house-elf just so happens to come to you and me to try and keep us away from Hogwarts. I hate to admit it, but maybe everyone's right!"

"You're beginning to sound like Hermione," laughed Harry.

We both quietly laughed at Harry's statement. "Elliot, just ignore everyone. They're only calling you that because that's what Voldemort said. Voldemort was wrong before, maybe he's wrong again. Don't let everyone get to you," smiled Harry.

"Yeah, you're right. Well, good-night, Harry," I smiled as I walked out of the room and back to my bedroom. As soon as I closed my door behind me, I fell down on my bed and immediately fell asleep.

TBC…


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

The rest of August went by in a flash and before I knew it, we were on our way to King's Cross to board the Hogwarts Express. Unfortunately due to some people forgetting their items (Rachel, Fred, George and Ginny), we were running a bit late. It was five minutes till eleven o'clock and we were just beginning to reach the barrier. "Alright, Percy, you first," ordered Mrs. Weasley.

Percy quickly ran through the barrier followed by Fred and Amanda. I gave a small laugh as George dragged Rachel in with him. Then, Mrs. Weasley said, "Alright Ginny, you next. Your father and I will be right behind you. After that, Ron, Elliot and Harry can follow."

Ginny gave a small nod as she ran through the barrier onto Platform 9 ¾. After Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had gone through, we gave each other a nod and ran towards the brick wall. I was getting ready to go through the barrier and see the scarlet train when I ran right into Ron who had run into the wall. I toppled on top of Ron as Harry's trolley hit mine and he collided on the floor on top of us. When I shook my head to regain my senses, I saw Ron's face mere inches away from mine. I gave a weak smile as the officer asked, "What do you think you're doing?"

"Sorry…lost control of the trolley," replied Harry as Ron and I stood up from our place on the ground.

After the officer was gone, Harry asked, "Why can't we get through?"

"I don't know. The barrier must have sealed itself," replied Ron.

I was just about to ask why when the clock struck 11:00. "The train leaves exactly at 11 o'clock. We missed it!" shouted Harry.

"Maybe we should send an owl to Hogwarts to tell them we'll be a bit late?" I suggested.

"Why don't we go wait by the car," suggested Harry.

Then, Ron smiled, "The car!"

"Yeah, what about it?" I asked.

"We can take the car to Hogwarts," he told us.

"Forget the owl idea, I'm in!" I smiled.

Harry gave a small nod, and we quickly gathered our trunks and headed out to the Ford Angelia. Ron got into the driver's seat while Harry sat in front with him and me in the back. After Ron had turned on the ignition, we began hovering in the air and flying into the sky. One problem; the Muggles could see us. "Uh, Ron, I must warn you. Muggles aren't use to seeing a flying car," shouted Harry.

Ron nodded and pushed a button that turned us invisible. Not long, we were out of London and making our way to Hogwarts. We had just reached the country when the car turned visible. Ron pushed the button over and over, but we remained visible. "Oh no, the invisibility booster must be faulty," he sighed.

"It doesn't matter. We need to find that train," reminded Harry.

Ron nodded and moved lower until we could see the tracks. There was no train, but we could hear its whistle. "We must be close," smiled Ron.

"Wait a moment," said Harry.

I noticed it too. The whistle was loud, but the train was not in front of us. Slowly, we turned around and saw the train coming at us full speed. "Get higher!" I shouted at Ron.

Quickly, Ron pushed the gas pedal down and we began flying higher from the tracks. However, the car began to barrel roll and before I knew it, I had been thrown out and hanging on the handle of the door while the train loomed below me. I could hear Harry and Ron shout, "Elliot!"

As I hung on for dear life, I felt the car begin to descend, but quickly jerk back up into the sky. When I looked up, I saw that Ron had abandoned his post at the wheel and jumped into the back to save me. "You bloody nutter!" I shouted at Ron.

"Sorry!" he called back as he held out his hand, "Take my hand, Elliot!"

With as much strength I could manage, I placed my hand in Ron's, only to let it slip. I had never been really good at pull-ups when I was in gym. Ron shouted once more, "Hold on!"

"I'm trying! You're hands are all sweaty!" I called back.

Giving it one more try, I brought up my hand and wrapped it around Ron's wrist. Quickly, Ron heaved me back into the car, and as soon as I hit the cushion, Ron closed the door. Everyone's looks, including Hedwig and Felix, were of utter terror. "I think we found the train," muttered Harry.

Ron and I nodded as we continued our flight to Hogwarts.

---oOo---

It was dark when Harry, Ron and I reached the hill that Hogwarts sat on. As we got closer and closer, we saw the lights in the Grand Hall flickering. The Sorting ceremony had begun. Ron turned to Harry and said, "Welcome home, Harry."

And with that, the car jerked violently. "What's going on?" I asked.

But before Ron could answer, we began plummeting to the ground. Ron pulled out his wand and knocked it against the dashboard shouting, "Stop, Stop, Stop!"

But the car didn't stop. Harry turned the wheel and guided us in the direction of a giant tree. As soon as the car was wedged into the branches, I heard a whimpering. Harry and I looked at Ron, who was holding a broken wand. "My wand! Look at my wand!" he whimpered.

"Be thankful it's not your neck," replied Harry when a loud thud escalated through the car. "What the bloody hell was that?" I asked.

And just then, we saw one of the branches of the tree swing down and hit the hood of the car. We all cried out as the tree began to damage our car. A branch broke through the windshield and almost stabbed me. Another swing from the tree caused the car to fall front first down the tree and onto the ground. As soon as all four tires hit the grass, Ron hit the gas and we began driving away as the tree launched itself at us. We had escaped it, but just barely. As soon as we were far enough away, the car came to a sudden stop and opened its doors. The car had pushed us out, followed by our trunks and animals. As soon as we were out of it, the car sped off into the Forbidden Forest. "Dad is so going to kill us," muttered Ron as we watched it disappear into the night.

After we watched the car disappeared, we gathered our stuff and headed inside. Luckily, everyone was still at the feast, so we put our trunks with the others and ran up the stairs to the Grand Hall. "First a house elf shows up in Elliot's room and my room," started Harry.

"Then the barrier stops us from getting on the train and we almost get killed by a tree! Clearly someone doesn't want us here," I finished.

"Do you think tonight could get any worse?" asked Ron.

"It just did," I muttered as we stopped and stared at Mr. Filch who was at the top of the stairs stroking Mrs. Norris. Well, take a good look, lads. This night might well be the last you spend in this castle. Oh we are in trouble…" he sneered.

We gave a weak smile as Filch led us down to the dungeons and into Snape's office. Why was he the first professor we had to see that evening? Professor Snape was holding up an edition of the Daily Prophet. The front was a picture of a flying car…our flying car, disappearing into thin air. "You were seen, by no less, then seven Muggles," said Snape from behind the paper.

We looked down at our feet as Snape put down the paper. "Do you have any idea how serious this is? You have risked the exposure of our world. Not to mention the damage you inflicted on a Whomping Willow that has been on these grounds for since before you were born."

"Honestly, Professor Snape, I think it did more damage to us," replied Ron.

"Silence! I assure you, were you in Slytherin and your fate rested with me, the both of you would be on the train home tonight. As it is…" began Snape.

"They are not," came a voice from the door. When we turned around, we saw Professor Dumbledore with Professor McGonagall. "Professor Dumbledore. Professor McGonagall..." began Harry.

"Headmaster, these three have broken the Decree for the Restriction of Underage Wizardry. As such..." began Snape.

"I'm well aware of our bylaws, Severus, having written more than a few myself. However, as Head of Gryffindor House, it is for Professor McGonagall to determine the appropriate action," stated Dumbledore.

"We'll go and get our stuff," said Ron rather gloomy.

"What are you talking about, Mr. Weasley?" asked Professor McGonagall.

"Well, you're going to expel us, aren't you?" I asked.

"Not today, Ms. P… Ms. Croft. But I must impress upon both of you the seriousness of what you have done. I will be sending owls to both of your families tonight. And you will each get a detention. I don't see why you didn't send an owl, seeing that two of you own one," said McGonagall.

I leaned over to Ron and whispered, "I told you so."

Snape gave us an evil look as we followed Dumbledore and McGonagall out of his office. As soon as we arrived in the common room, everyone began to cheer at us and tell us how cool they thought we were because of our entrance. Neville, Seamus, Dean, Fred, George and Lee came running up to us, followed by Amanda, Rachel and Hermione. "You were amazing," chorused the twins, who quickly got nudged in the sides by their girlfriends.

"So, what happened to you?" asked Lee.

"Detention," I sighed.

"Detention? On the first day?" asked Neville.

"That must be some kind of record," smiled Seamus.

"I should think you'd count yourself lucky that's all you got," stated Hermione.

"I should think you'd mind your own business," replied Ron. I gave him a quick jab in his side, telling him now is not the best time. After we managed to break through everyone, I ran up to the girl's dormitory and fell on my bed…which actually had my stuff near it. I thought that the rest of the night was going to be quiet, until Hermione, Amanda and Rachel came running in. "What the bloody hell were you thinking?" shouted Rachel.

"There goes my peace and quiet," I muttered under my breath.

"You could have died! You could have been seen!" stated Hermione.

"You're starting to sound like Mrs. Weasley," I muttered inaudibly.

"At least someone around here is!" replied Hermione.

"How come Harry and Ron get the cheers and congratulations and I get the three who find the senselessness in the situation?" I asked.

"Why didn't you just send and owl to Dumbledore and explain the situation?" asked Amanda.

"Because it wouldn't have been as much fun as driving a flying car," I replied sarcastically, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I would like to get some sleep and peace before I get reprimanded even more by you three tomorrow. Good night."

And with that, I got under the covers of my bed and fell asleep.

TBC…


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Our first class of the day was Herbology with Professor Sprout. When we got into the greenhouse assigned, we each put on our gardening outfits and watched as Professor Sprout came walking in. Welcome to Greenhouse Three, Second Years. Today, we will be re-potting Mandrakes. Now, who here can tell me the properties of the Mandrake? Yes, Miss Granger.

"Mandrake, or Mandagora, is used to return those who have been petrified to their original state. It's also quite dangerous. The Mandrake's cry is fatal to anyone who hears it."

"Excellent. Ten points to Gryffindor," smiled Professor Sprout.

"That's not surprising," I muttered in Ron's ear.

"As our Mandrakes are only seedlings, their cries won't kill yet. However, they will knock you out for several hours. That is why I have provided each of you with a pair of earmuffs. If you would then..."

As soon as Professor Sprout said that, we each put on our earmuffs. Ron and I ended up with the fluffy pink ones that looked like something from Ron's Aunt Muriel. After we put them on, Professor Sprout took a pot and said, "Now, you grasp them firmly, and pull them straight up."

As soon as she pulled hers up, there was an ear splitting noise that came form the little ugly baby thing on the end of the leaves. We had to close our ear muffs closer to our ears because it was so loud. Suddenly, Neville fainted. "Looks like Longbottom has been neglected by his earmuffs," sighed Professor Sprout.

"No ma'am, he's just fainted," replied Seamus.

"Alright, just leave him there then."

Ron, Rachel and I laughed at Professor Sprout. "Now, there are plenty of pots to go around. Grasp your mandrake firmly and pull!" instructed Professor Sprout.

As soon as we pulled ours up, the whole greenhouse filled with high-pitched screams. I watched as Draco Malfoy put his finger in one of the mouths, only to have the mandrake bite it. I laughed as we began to repot them.

---oOo---

We were all sitting around at lunch, having a good time. Well, that is until Harry and I were blinded by a flash. When we looked up we saw a boy with a camera. "Hiya Harry! Hi Elliot. I'm Colin Creevy. I'm in Gryffindor too."

"Hi Colin, nice to meet…," started Harry

"They're for my dad…the pictures. He's a milkman, you know, a Muggle, like all our family's been until me. No one knew all the odd stuff I could do was magic till we got my letter from Hogwarts. Everyone just thought I was mental," stuttered Colin.

"Imagine that," Ron and I chimed together.

"Say, Harry. D'you think your friend could take a photo of me, Elliot and you standing together? Ya' know, to prove I've met you?" asked Colin.

Ron looked positively homicidal until Seamus shouted, "Post is here!"

We all looked up to see the owls come diving in, dropping off letters to there recipients. However, Ron's owl, Errol, crashed into the bowl of chips sitting in front of us. Everyone laughed as Ron said, "Bloody bird's a menace."

Errol had one letter, addressed to me and Ron. I stared at the scarlet envelope as Ron's face went deathly pale. "Oh no," he muttered.

Then Seamus shouted, "Look everyone! Weasley and P…Croft got themselves a howler!"

I looked up in confusion as Neville said, "Go on, Ron. I ignored one from my Gran once... and it was horrible."

Finally figuring out what it meant, Ron and I looked at each other's pale faces as we opened the envelope. Before we could even take out the parchment, Mrs. Weasley's voice shouted, "Ronald Weasley and Elliot Croft!"

Suddenly, the letter jumped into the air and formed itself into a face. Then, it began to shout at us, "HOW DARE YOU TWO STEAL THAT CAR! I AM ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED! YOUR FATHER'S NOW FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK AND IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT! IF EITHER OF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT HOME!"

Suddenly, the note began ripping itself to pieces. Ron and I looked at each other with a look of terror on our faces and everyone around us laughed. Then, Harry said, "Look at it this way. How much worse can things get?"

---oOo---

Only it did. Turned out that our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was Gilderoy Lockhart. This is how his class started out as. He was standing at the top of the stairway looking down at us. Hermione and Amanda sat in the front completely in awe as Harry, Ron, Rachel and I sat there completely disgusted. Then, he began to speak. "Let me introduce you to your new Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher. Me. Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League and five times winner of Witch Weekly's Most-Charming-Smile Award -- But I don't talk about that. I didn't get rid of the Bandon Banshee by smiling at her!"

Clearly he wanted someone to laugh, but no one did. So, he continued. "I see you've all bought a complete set of my books. Well done. I thought we'd start today with a little quiz. Nothing to worry about. Just to check how well you've read them, how much you've taken in..."

Lockhart began to pass out papers. Ron leant over to us and said, "Look at these questions. They're all about him."

"'What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favorite color?'" read Harry.

"'What is Gilderoy Lockhart's greatest achievement to date?'" read Ron.

"Oh, I know that one," said Rachel as she picked up her quill, "Killing twenty thousand wizards with a single curse."

"'When is Gilderoy Lockhart's birthday and what would his ideal gift be?'" read Harry.

"That's easy. Total world domination," I recited as I wrote it down.

"You have thirty minutes," shouted Lockhart.

After that horrible thirty minute test, Lockhart examined the papers. "Tut, tut. Hardly any of you remembered my favorite color is lilac. But Miss Hermione Granger and Miss Amanda Janine knew that my secret ambition is to rid the world of evil and market my own range of hair care potions. Good girls," he smiled, making Amanda and Hermione melt.

Ron, Rachel and I laughed as he saw what we wrote. Not daring to read our answers to the class, he turned to a cage with a cloak over it. "Now... be warned! It is my job to arm you against the foulest creatures known to wizard-kind! You may find yourself facing your own worst fears in this room. Know only that no harm can befall you whilst I am here. I must ask you not to scream. It might provoke them!" he shouted as he removed the cage to reveal small, blue creatures.

"Cornish pixies?" laughed Seamus.

"Freshly caught Cornish pixies!" beamed Lockhart.

Seamus and I laughed even harder. "Laugh if you will, Mr. Finnegan, but pixies can be devilishly tricky little blighters. Let's see what you make of them," he said as he opened the cage, releasing the pixies.

The pixies rampaged around the room, pestering everyone and destroying whatever they could. I could hear Lockhart shout, "Come on now, round them up, round them up. They're only pixies." 

Seeing that no one was succeeding, Lockhart pulled out his wand and shouted, "Peskipiski Pesternomi!"

A lot of good that did him. The pixies took the wand and chucked it out the window. As Lockhart made a run for the door, he turned to us and said, "I'll ask you six to just nip the rest of them back into their cage."

And with that, he was gone. "Now what do we do?" asked Ron as he swatted a pixy that had a hold of my hair.

After swatting another pixy away, Hermione stood up with her wand pointed and shouted, "Immobilus!"

Suddenly, all of the pixies were suspended in mid air. Neville, who had been lifted onto the chandelier by the pixies, looked at us and asked, "Why is it always me?"

After we left the room, Ron asked, "Can you believe him?"

"I'm sure Professor Lockhart just wanted to give us some hands-on experience," said Hermione.

"Hands on? Hermione, he didn't have a clue what he was doing," said Rachel.

"Rubbish. Read his books. You'll see all the amazing things he's done," reassured Amanda.

"What he says he's done," I muttered.

TBC…


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

The next morning, we had Quidditch try-outs. Angelina had moved to France with her family, so we needed a new Chaser. There were only two candidates; Rachel and another girl who I had seen play before. I sat in the bleachers, watching the tryouts take place. Before Rachel had gone up, she said to me, "Let me go first. That way, you can see what I'm capable of."

So, Wood had agreed to let her go first. Sure enough, Rachel made every single goal, which I found very amazing, seeing as she never played Quidditch before. Then the next girl was up. I watched as she continued to make goal after goal. She only had two more shots and she would have tied Rachel. Even though I had promised Rachel I would not jinx the other contender, I took out my wand and muttered, "_Hysteria!_"

Suddenly, the contender began to go into fits of laughter. She was laughing so hard that she nearly fell off her broom. Unable to finish tryouts, Wood had pronounced that Rachel was our new Chaser. I could tell that George was very happy about this. After we got into the locker room and changed into our Quidditch robes, Wood led us out to the pitch. "I spent the summer devising a whole new Quidditch program. We're going to train earlier, harder, and long…What the…I don't believe it!" he said.

We all looked up to see the Slytherin team out on the pitch, led by their ugly captain, Flint. Hermione, Ron and Amanda were sitting on a bench nearby and I could hear Ron say, "Uh-oh. I smell trouble."

As they came running over, Wood said, "Clear out, Flint! I booked the pitch for Gryffindor today."

"Easy, Wood, I've got a note," smiled Flint as he handed the parchment to Wood.

"'I, Professor Severus Snape, do hereby give the Slytherin team permission to practice today, owing to the need to train their new Seeker.' You've got a new Seeker? Who?"

Suddenly, Malfoy appeared at the front of the group. "Malfoy?" Harry and I chorused.

"That's right. And that's not all that's new this year..." smiled Malfoy as he and the rest of the team brandished their new broomsticks. 

"Those are Nimbus Two Thousand Ones!" shouted Ron.

"A generous gift from Draco's father," smiled Flint.

"That's right, Weasley. You see, unlike some, my father can afford to buy the best," sneered Malfoy.

"At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to buy their way in," smiled Hermione.

"They got in on pure talent," finished Amanda

Draco turned to them and gave them an evil look. "No one asked for your opinions…you filthy little Mudbloods."

Ron and the entire Quidditch team looked in complete and utter horror at what Draco said. Rachel, Harry and I looked completely confused. Then, Fred and George broke through, ready to tackle Malfoy. I would have cheered them on if Wood didn't stop them and said, "Save it for the match."

Then, Ron took out his wand and shouted, "You'll pay for that one, Malfoy. Eat slugs!"

"Ron! Don't!" I yelled at him. Too late. The curse backfired, hitting Ron and sending him flying back. I could hear the entire Slytherin team laughing as we ran over to him. "Ron, are you okay?" I asked.

Ron didn't say anything. "Ron, say anything," urged Hermione.

As Ron opened his mouth, he belched out slugs. Colin Creevy snapped a photo of the slug and said, "Wow! Can you hold him still, Harry?!"

"Get out of the way, Colin!" shouted Harry as he and I helped Ron up. He then said to us, "Let's take him to Hagrid. He'll know what to do."

As we ran to Hagrid's hut, we heard Malfoy and the Slytherins laughing. As soon as we arrived at Hagrid's, Hagrid sat Ron down on the giant seat and rummaged for something. "Got jus' the thing," he said as he gave Ron a bucket.

We all looked at him in confusion. "Afraid the only thing we can do is wait til it stops, I'm afraid," he told us.

Then, Ron burped another slug. "Better out than in. Who was he tryin' ter curse anyway?"

"Malfoy. He called Hermione and Amanda, well, I don't know exactly what it means..." started Harry.

"He called us a Mudblood."

"He did not!" shouted Hagrid.

"What does it…?" I began to ask when Hermione shouted, "It means dirty blood. Mudblood's a really foul name for someone who was Muggle-born. Someone with non-magic parents. Someone...like me and Amanda. It's not a term one usually hears in civilized conversation."

"But I don't understand…I don't even know who my parents were," said Amanda.

Slowly, I looked at the floor and muttered, "I do."

Everyone turned and looked at me. "Dumbledore told me that your parents were Muggles that had found out about your powers, so they were gonna kill you. Dumbledore had Hagrid get you and take you to New York," I explained.

Tears began to stream down Amanda's face and before I could say anything, she ran out of the hut. "Amanda!" shouted Rachel as she ran after her.

"Yeh see. There are some wizards…like Malfoy's family…who think they're better than everyone else 'cause they're what people call pureblood," explained Hagrid.

"That's horrible!" shouted Harry.

Ron, who had just belched another slug, said, "It's disgusting!"

"An' it's codswallop ter boot. Dirty blood. There's 'ardly a wizard today that's not half-blood or less. If we 'adn't married Muggles we'd've died out long ago. Besides, they haven't invented a spell our Hermione or Amanda can't do. Don' either of you think on it, Hermione. Don' you think on it fer a minute," smiled Hagrid.

Hermione smiled and took Hagrid's warm hand as a small tear fell down her soft face.

TBC…

**Please R&R!**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

After a while, in which Ron wasn't belching slugs every two minutes, Harry, Hermione and I helped Ron up to the castle, where McGonagall came running towards us. "There you three are! You will each be serving detention tonight. Mr. Potter, you'll be serving it with Professor Lockhart. Mr. Weasley will be serving it with Mr. Filch and Miss P…Miss Croft, you'll be with Professor Snape."

"WHAT! Why couldn't I be with Professor Lockhart or yourself?" I asked.

"Because Professor Snape wanted to take part in helping with the punishments and since Professor Lockhart insisted on serving detention with Mr. Potter and Mr. Filch requested Mr. Weasley, the only one left was you. Now, detention starts in ten minutes."

And with that, she left us. "I'll be going to check on Amanda and Rachel. Good luck with detention," muttered Hermione as she ran off.

"Well, have fun with your detention…lucky bastards," I told them as I sulked to the dungeons. At every step, I could hear the funeral song playing in my head. But then, it turned to Jaws…interesting…anyway, once I opened the door to the Potions room, I saw Snape standing at the front waiting for me. "Evening Miss P…Miss Croft."

I eyed him suspiciously. "Tonight, you will be taking inventory inside my potion's closet."

"But I did that last year!"

"Ten points from Gryffindor. Now, get in there."

I let out a long sigh and walked into the closet. As soon as I cleared the door frame, Snape slammed it closed, leaving me inside the room. This was going to take all night. If only there was some sort of spell to make things sort themselves…that's it! I remember reading in _Standard Book of Spells Year Two_ (I'll have to thank Hermione for that) that it there was. So, I pulled out my wand and muttered, "_Sortio!_"

Immediately, the clipboard and the quill began taking inventory, without me lifting a finger. I love magic. After it was all over, I put my wand back into my robes and walked out into the classroom where I saw Snape reading something at his desk. "Finished already?" he asked.

I slammed the clipboard in front of him and smiled. "Now that that's over with, I'll be heading to…"

"One more thing before you go; polish those cauldrons for our next lesson."

I hung my head low as I walked to the enormous pile of cauldrons. Quickly looking over my shoulder, I pulled out my wand and was about to use an incantation when Snape snatched it from my hands. "No magic! You will do it the old fashioned way…and I think ten points from Gryffindor will teach you not to try that again."

As Snape placed my wand in his filthy robes, a set of polish appeared before me. Sneering, Snape walked away, leaving me to my work. I had probably done about six cauldrons when I heard a voice whispering, "…come to me…"

"What?" I said aloud.

"I didn't say anything," noted Snape.

But I stared around the room, trying to find where the voice came from. "Didn't you hear that?" I asked.

"You must be losing your mind…and here's why. Unfortunately our time together has come to an end. You're free to go, Miss P…Miss Croft."

After Snape handed me my wand back, I ran out of the room, hoping to catch the voice again. As I ran down the halls, I ran into Harry, Ron (who was still a little pale), Hermione, Rachel and Amanda. "There you are!" smiled Rachel.

"Did you hear that voice?" I asked.

"What voice?" asked Amanda just as the voice came back. The voice was hissing, "Kill…kill…"

"Yeah, I hear it," replied Harry.

"Yeah, me too," chimed in Rachel.

At least I wasn't the only one going crazy. The voice continued to hiss, "Kill….kill…"

"I think it's going to kill," I said as I ran towards the place it seemed the voice was coming from. Everyone followed me until we ran down a hall that was flooded with water. "What is it?" asked Amanda when we came to a dead spot.

That's when I noticed a reflection of something in the water. When I looked up, along with everyone else, I saw THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED, ENEMIES OF THE HEIR... BEWARE written on the wall.

"'The Chamber of Secrets has been opened, enemies of the heir beware.' It's written in blood," said Hermione.

"What's that? Hanging underneath?" asked Ron.

When we walked closer to the wall, we saw something hanging to the torch. That's when Harry said, "That's Filch's cat. Mrs. Norris."

When we looked around, we noticed a group of spiders scuttling out of the window…in a single file line. "Look at that. Have you ever seen spiders act like that? Ron...?" I asked when I noticed Ron's horrified face.

"Ron?" asked Hermione.

As Ron backed away, he stammered, "I...don't...like...spiders."

I giggled. Finally, some dirt I can use on Ron when I'm able to use magic OUTSIDE of school. Just then, all of the students came out of the grand hall and saw the disaster we had just found. Then, Malfoy yelled, "Enemies of the heir, beware! You'll be next, Mudbloods!"

Malfoy caught Hermione and Amanda's eyes as the worst possible person appeared; Mr. Filch. "What's going on here? Go on now! Make way...Mrs. Norris!" he said as he spotted his cat.

He then turned and looked at us. "You! You've murdered my cat! I'll kill you! I'll…!" he shouted at us as he approached us.

"Argus!" shouted Dumbledore as he and the rest of the staff appeared. As soon as he noticed the message, Dumbledore ordered, "Everyone will proceed to their dormitories immediately. Everyone except you six," he said to us just as we were beginning to run away.

As everyone left the hall, Gilderoy Lockhart said, "It was definitely a curse that killed her…probably the Transmogrifian Torture. Encountered it myself once, in Ouagadougou. The full story's in my autobiography..."

"She's not dead, Argus. She's been Petrified," said Dumbledore, completely ignoring Lockhart.

"Precisely! So unlucky I wasn't there. I know the very countercurse that could have spared her..." continued Lockhart.

Would you just shut up, I thought to myself. But I didn't say it because I didn't want to get into anymore trouble. "But how she's been Petrified... I cannot say," replied Dumbledore.

"Ask them! It's them that's done it. You saw what they wrote on the wall!"

"It's not true, sir! I swear! We never touched Mrs. Norris…" began Harry.

"Why would we even attack her?" I shouted back.

"Because you know who I am! You all know that I'm a…a Squib!"

I stared at Filch in confusion. "Why would we? We don't even know what a Squib is," replied Rachel.

"If I might, Headmaster...Perhaps Potter and his friends were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time..." said Snape from the shadows.

We all stared at him in wonder was he actually defending us? "However, the circumstances are suspicious. I, for one, don't recall seeing Mr. Potter at dinner. Mrs. Croft here had just left my classroom and should have been headed towards the Great Hall."

Of course I knew that idea was too good to be true. "I'm afraid that's my doing, Severus. You see, Harry was helping me answer my fan mail..." began Lockhart.

"That's why Ron, Amanda, Rachel and I went looking for them, Professor. We'd just found them when Elliot said..." began Hermione.

"Yes, Miss Granger?" urged Snape.

"When I said I wasn't hungry. We were heading back to the Common Room and... found Mrs. Norris," I lied.

"Innocent until proven guilty," said Dumbledore.

"My cat has been Petrified! I want to see some punishment!" shouted Mr. Filch.

"We will be able to cure her, Argus. As I understand it, Madam Sprout has a very healthy growth of Mandrakes. When they have matured, a potion will be made which will revive Mrs. Norris. In the meantime, I advise caution. To all," explained Dumbledore.

As soon as he said that, we ran up to the Common Room, our heads full of questions. "So, what is a Squib?" asked Amanda.

"A Squib's someone who's born into a wizarding family but hasn't got any powers of their own. It's why Filch hates students so much. He's bitter," explained Ron.

"Elliot? This voice? You said you heard it first in Snape's office?" asked Hermione

"Yes?" I asked questionly.

"Yeah, I heard it in Lockhart's office too," chimed in Harry.

"And did either of them hear it?" she asked.

"No," I replied.

"He said he didn't," said Harry.

"Maybe they were lying," suggested Ron.

"Snape, yes. But I hardly think someone with Gilderoy Lockhart's credentials would lie to one of his students, Ronald. Besides, if you recall, we didn't hear anything either," said Hermione.

"You do believe us, don't you?" asked Harry.

"I do, because I heard it too in the Great Hall," replied Rachel.

"'Course we do. It's just... it's a bit weird, isn't it? You hear this voice and then... Mrs. Norris turns up Petrified," suggested Hermione.

"I can't explain it…it was... scary," I said.

"D'you think we should've told them…Dumbledore and the others, I mean?" asked Harry.

"Are you mad!" shouted Ron.

"No, Harry. Even in the wizarding world, hearing voices isn't a good sign," explained Hermione.

Oh great, another year, another mystery. Why couldn't we just live normal lives? Well, if you call being a witch normal.

TBC…


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

We were sitting in Transfiguration class, ready to learn. I sat next to Ron with Harry and Rachel behind me and Hermione and Amanda at the desk next to us. At the front of the room stood McGonagall with a beautiful bird perched on a stool. "Today, we will be turning animals into water goblets."

She then tapped the bird in front of her, three times, with the tip of her wand and muttered, "_Viverto."_

We watched as it transfigured into a beautiful crystal water goblet. "Now, who would like to go first...how about you, Mr. Weasley?"

I laughed as Ron nodded. He cleared his throat and tapped his rat, Scabbers, three times and shouted, "_Viverto."_

I watched as Scabbers turned into a goblet with a tail. I couldn't help but laugh as Professor McGonagall said, "You must replace that wand, Mr. Weasley."

I laughed as McGonagall walked away and Ron looked at his broken wand. Of course the spell didn't work. He was lucky that he didn't turn himself into a water goblet! Suddenly, Hermione raised her hand. I wondered what she had to ask. "Yes, Miss Granger?" asked McGonagall.

"Professor, I was wondering if you could tell us about the Chamber of Secrets?"

The room grew very silent. Of course she would ask that. "My subject is Transfiguration, Miss Granger."

"Yes, Professor. But there seems to be very little written about the Chamber of Secrets. For those of us with a personal interest in the subject, that is...disturbing," explained Hermione.

Malfoy seemed amused by Hermione's request. After letting out a sigh, McGonagall nodded. "Very well. You all know, of course, that Hogwarts was founded over a thousand years ago by the four greatest witches and wizards of the age: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. Three of the founders co-existed quite harmoniously. One did not."

Ron leaned over to me and whispered, "Three guesses who?"

But Professor McGonagall continued as if she didn't hear him. But I'm sure she did, because she gave us an evil stare. "Salazar Slytherin wished to be more selective about the students admitted to Hogwarts. He believed that magical learning should be kept within all-magic families. In other words, purebloods. Unable to sway the others, he decided to leave the school. According to legend, Slytherin had built a hidden chamber in this castle, known as the Chamber of Secrets. Shortly before departing, he sealed it until that time when his own true heir returned to the school. The heir alone would be able to open the Chamber of Secrets and unleash the horror within, and by so doing, purge the school of all those who, in Slytherin's view, were unworthy to study magic."

"Muggle-borns," stated Amanda.

"Yes. Naturally, the school has been searched many times for such a chamber. It has never been found," finished McGonagall.

"Professor, what exactly does legend tell us lies within the Chamber?" asked Rachel.

"The Chamber is said to be home to something which the heir of Slytherin alone can control. It is said to be home...to a monster," said McGonagall with a bit of fear in her voice.

Ron and I turned to look at Malfoy, who had just finished whispering something to Crabbe and Goyle and actually looked pretty content with himself. I had a bad feeling about him. And as we walked down the halls towards our next class, we began to talk about it. "Do you think it's true? Do you think there really is a Chamber of Secrets?" asked Ron.

"Yes. Couldn't you tell: McGonagall's worried. All the teachers are," said Amanda.

"But if there really is a Chamber of Secrets, and it's really been opened, that means..." began Rachel.

"The Heir of Slytherin has returned to Hogwarts. The question is, who is it?" finished Hermione.

"Let's think. Who do we know who thinks Muggle-borns are scum…" I began to suggest as Malfoy pushed past us.

"If you're talking about him…" began Hermione.

"Of course! You heard him: 'You'll be next, Mudbloods'!" finished Ron.

"I heard him. But Malfoy? The Heir of Slytherin?" asked Amanda.

"Maybe they're right. I mean, look at his family. The whole lot of them have been in Slytherin for centuries."

"Crabbe and Goyle must know. Maybe we could trick them into telling..." began Rachel.

"Yeah, I saw Malfoy whispering something to them in class today," I stated.

"No. Even they aren't that thick. But there might be another way. Mind you, it would be difficult. Not to mention we'd be breaking about fifty school rules. And it would be dangerous. Very dangerous," said Hermione.

"When do we start?" Ron and I chorused together.

Hermione then led us to the library where she pulled out a book titled _Moste Pontente Potions_. "Here it is: 'The Polyjuice Potion. Properly brewed, the Polyjuice Potion allows the drinker to transform himself temporarily into the physical form of another...'" she read.

"You mean, Harry and I drink some of this stuff and we turn into Crabbe and Goyle?" asked Ron.

"Yes," replied Amanda.

"Hey, don't forget; I want a part of this too," I said.

"Wicked! Malfoy'll tell us anything!" said Ron, completely ignoring what I just said.

"Exactly. But it's tricky. I've never seen a more complicated potion. Lacewing flies, leeches, fluxweed. And, of course, we'll need a bit of whoever we want to change into too," explained Amanda.

"Hang on now. I'm drinking nothing with Crabbe's toenails in it," said Ron.

I let out a stifled laugh, knowing that it probably was just going to be his hair. "How long will it take to make?" asked Harry.

"A month," read Rachel.

"A month? But if Malfoy is the heir of Slytherin... he could attack half the Muggle-borns in the school by then!" I shouted.

"You didn't have to tell them that," whispered Rachel, indicating Amanda and Hermione.

"I know that, but it's the only chance we got. So, are you in?" asked Hermione.

"I'm in," Harry said without hesitation.

"Yeah, me too," replied Ron.

After letting out a sigh, I nodded. "Count me in."

"I'll do it," replied Hermione. All of our eyes now fixed on Rachel and Amanda. "Though this sounds like a lot of fun, I think I'll pass," replied Rachel.

"Yeah, I refuse to drink anything that looks like THAT," replied Amanda, pointing to the picture of the potion.

"Alright, suit yourselves," I smiled.

Just then, my watch went off. When I looked down, I saw that it was two minutes till Quidditch practice. "Guys, Harry, Rachel and I have to go…it's Quidditch practice and tomorrow is the match against Slytherin," I explained as Harry, Rachel and I ran down the halls towards the locker room.

--oOo--

It was the day of the match. Gryffindor was leading 70 to 30…I only knew that because Lee Jordan kept shouting it on the intercom. Rachel was flying really well today. Maybe it was the tension that was building up. As I flew around, hoping for Rachel to pass the Quaffle, I spotted Harry being chased by a bludger. "Harry's got himself a rogue bludger! Where are the fantastic Weasley's when you need them?" Lee Jordan shouted over the intercom.

"No taking sides, Mr. Jordan," McGonagall shouted at Lee. Before I knew it, I saw a bludger heading straight towards Rachel. Before I could shout, George whacked it away…straight towards me! The bludger hit me in the arm hard. "George! Bloody hell! Watch were you aim that thing!" I shouted at him.

"Sorry, Elli!" he shouted back as he went towards the bludger once more.

I just rolled my eyes as I watched the same bludger heading for Rachel again. And again, George batted away the bludger and hit me in the same arm, causing it to fracture. "George! Are you bloody blind? I'm on YOUR team! See the red? Don't aim for the red! Red means 'Stop', Green means 'Go'!" I shouted at him.

He apologized once more and zoomed off somewhere. I cradled my arm just as I saw Harry fall of the broom. I watched as Harry brought the Snitch up for everyone to see. "Harry Potter has caught the Snitch!" shouted Jordan.

Before I knew it, a bludger knocked me off my broom and tumbling down the Gryffindor banner on one of the towers. As soon as I hit the ground, my fractured arm turned into a full break. Rachel and Amanda helped me over to Harry, who had a broken arm as well…the same arm in the same place too. "You two have a broken arm on the same arm in the same place? What are you two, twins?" laughed Ron.

I smiled, but that quickly faded when Lockhart came running up to us. "Not to worry, you two. I'll fix those arm of yours straight away," he smiled as he pulled out his wand.

"No... no... not you," said Harry.

I nodded as Lockhart said, "Poor children, they don't know what they're saying. This won't hurt a bit..."

Lockhart touched his wand to our arms and muttered a spell. As soon as it went away, our arms turned into rubber. "Ah. Yes. Well, that can sometimes happen. The point is…the bones are no longer broken."

"Brok'n? They don't 'ave any bones at all!" shouted Hagrid.

We watched in horror as our arms were, indeed, boneless. We were led up into the Hospital Wing immediately where Madam Pomfrey came with a jar of liquid. "They should have been brought straight to me! I can mend bones in a heartbeat -- but growing them back --

"You will be able to, won't you?" asked Rachel.

"I'll be able to, certainly, but it will be painful. You're in for a rough night, kids. Regrowing bones is nasty business."

Madam Pomfrey handed us a glass. As soon as we took a drink, Harry and I grimaced. It was disgusting! "Well, what did you expect -- pumpkin juice?" she asked.

"Actually, yes," I replied.

Suddenly, we see a flash. There is Colin Creevey with his camera. "That was brilliant today! Brilliant!

"Out! All of you! These children have thirty-three bones to regrow!" shouted Madam Pomfrey, ushering everyone away.

--oOo--

That night, Harry and I are lying awake in the hospital wing, our arms aching with pain. Suddenly, we see a movement in the shadows. When we look up, we see a very familiar house elf walking towards us. "Dobby!" we shouted in unison.

"Harry and Elliot Potter came back to school. Dobby warned them. Harry and Elliot Potter should have listened to Dobby. Harry and Elliot Potter should have gone back home when they missed the train.

"It was you! You stopped the barrier from letting Ron, Elliot and me through!" shouted Harry.

"And I'm not…" I began, but Harry hushed me. "Indeed yes, sir. Dobby hid and watched for Harry and Elliot Potter and sealed the gateway."

"You nearly got us expelled!" I shouted.

"At least you would be away from here. Harry and Elliot Potter must go home! Dobby thought his Bludger would be enough to make Harry and Elliot Potter see…" he began.

"Your Bludger? You made that Bludger chase after me?" asked Harry.

"How was that going to make me see that I had to go home?" I continued, ignoring that Dobby had, indeed, called me 'Elliot Potter' again.

"Dobby was hoping that if Harry Potter got hurt that Elliot Potter would take Harry Potter home with her so that she could look after him. Dobby feels most aggrieved, sir. Dobby had to iron his hands..." he said as he showed us his bandaged hands.

"You'd better clear off before our bones come back, Dobby, or we might strangle you!" I threatened.

"Dobby is used to death threats, ma'am. Dobby gets them five times a day at home."

"I don't suppose you could tell me why you're trying to kill us?" asked Harry.

"Not kill you, sir, never kill you! Dobby remembers how it was before Harry and Elliot Potter triumphed over He Who Must Not Be Named. We house elves were treated like vermin, sir. Of course, Dobby is still treated like vermin..." Dobby then blew his nose in the pillowcase he is always wearing.

"Why do you wear that thing, Dobby?" I asked.

"This, ma'am? 'Tis a mark of the house elf's enslavement. Dobby can only be freed if his master presents him with clothes. The family is careful not to pass Dobby so much as a sock, sir, for then he would be free to leave their house forever."

Just then, we heard footsteps. Dobby then whispered. "Terrible things are about to happen at Hogwarts! Harry and Elliot Potter must not stay here now that history is to repeat itself!"

"Repeat itself?" asked Harry.

"You mean, this has happened before?" I asked.

"Tell us, Dobby? When did this happen before? Who's doing it now?" asked Harry.

"Dobby cannot say, sir. Dobby only wants Harry and Elliot Potter to be safe."

"Who is it?" I asked.

"Tell us!" ordered Harry.

But too late. Dobby disappeared in a flash. Suddenly, a light came from the entrance. Harry and I faked slumber and listened as somebody came in. "Place him here," ordered McGonagall.

"What's happened?" asked Madam Pomfrey.

"There's been another attack," said Dumbledore.

I slowly looked over to see Colin Creevy lying still with his camera in front of his face. As Dumbledore took the camera, McGonagall said, "Perhaps he managed to get a picture of his attacker..."

Dumbledore opened the camera and a stream of smoke came from the film canister. "What does this mean, Albus?" asked McGonagall."

"It means our students are in great danger, Minerva. Mr. Creevey was fortunate. If not for this camera, he would surely be dead," said Dumbledore.

"What should I tell the staff, Albus?" asked McGonagall.

"Tell them the truth. Tell them Hogwarts is no longer safe. Tell them it's as we feared. The Chamber of Secrets is indeed open again," said Dumbledore.

TBC…


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

"Again? You mean the Chamber of Secrets has been opened before?" asked Rachel.

"Of course! Don't you see? Lucius Malfoy must've opened it when he was at school here, and now he's told Draco how to do it," said Ron as we all stood around the cauldron in the girl's lavatory. Hermione was brewing the potion and man did it look disgusting.

"Maybe. We'll have to wait for the Polyjuice Potion to know for sure," replied Hermione.

"Enlighten me. Why are we brewing this potion in broad daylight, in the middle of a girls' lavatory? Don't you think we'll get caught?" asked Ron.

"Never. No one over comes in here," replied Amanda.

"Why?" asked Ron.

"Moaning Myrtle," replied Hermione.

"Who's Moaning Myrtle?" Ron and I asked in unison just as a ghost of a young girl with glasses and pigtails came racing towards us and was face to face with me and Ron. "I'm Moaning Myrtle. I wouldn't expect you to know me. Who would ever talk about fat, ugly, miserable, moping, moaning Myrtle?" she sobbed as she flew away and dove head first into a toilet.

"She's a little sensitive," explained Hermione.

"A little?" I asked in amazement as we continued to brew the potion.

--oOo--

The next day, Lockhart was holding something called a Dueling Club in the Grand Hall. When we arrived, we saw a large table in the middle of the room and every student gathered around it. Just then, Lockhart came strolling out on the table, shouting, "Gather round! Gather round! Can everyone see me? Can you all hear me? Excellent. In light of the dark events of recent weeks, Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this little Dueling Club, to train you all up in case you ever need to defend yourselves as I myself have done on countless occasions…for full details, see my published works."

Just then, the boy next to Harry turned to us and said, "That Lockhart's something, isn't he? Awfully brave chap. Justin Finch-Fletchley. Hufflepuff."

"Nice to meet you. We're…" began Harry, also trying to introduce me.

"I know who you are. We all do. Even us Muggle-borns," he smiled.

My eyes grew wide as Snape joined Lockhart. "Let me introduce my assistant Professor Snape. He has sportingly agreed to help me with a short demonstration. Now I don't want any of you youngsters to worry. You'll still have your Potions Master when I'm through with him, never fear!" smiled Lockhart.

"What's the fun in that?" Ron and I chorused as Lockhart and Snape walked towards each other and bowed. After they walked ten paces away from each other, they spun around and positioned their wands like swords. "As you can see, we are holding our wands in the accepted combative position. On the count of three, we will cast our first spells. Neither of us will be aiming to kill, of course," explained Lockhart.

"I wouldn't bet on that," Harry whispered as he stared at Snape.

"One-two-three," counted Lockhart.

"Expelliarmus!" shouted Snape as a flash of scarlet light burst forth and blasted Lockhart off of his feet and into the wall behind him. Hermione then whispered to Amanda, "Do you think he's all right?"

"Who cares?" Harry, Ron, Rachel and I laughed.

"Well, there you have it. That was a Disarming Charm. As you see, I've lost my wand," laughed Lockhart just as Hermione returned his wand, "Ah, thank you, Miss Granger. Yes, an excellent idea to show them that, Professor Snape, but if you don't mind my saying so, it was very obvious what you were about to do. If I had wanted to stop you it would have been only too easy..." lied Lockhart…who, of course, everyone believed.

"Perhaps it would be prudent to first teach the students to block unfriendly spells, Professor," suggested Snape.

"An excellent suggestion, Professor Snape. Let's have a volunteer pair. Sinclair, Weasley, how about you?"

"Weasley's wand causes devastation with the simplest spells. We'll be sending Sinclair to the hospital wing in a matchbox. Might I suggest someone from my own house? Malfoy, perhaps," suggested Snape.

We watched as Rachel and Malfoy walked onto the table and copied Lockhart and Snape. After they turned around, Lockhart shouted, "Wands at the ready! When I count to three, cast your charms to disarm your opponent…only to disarm. We don't want any accidents. One, two, three!"

After Lockhart shouted three, Rachel jinxed Malfoy, sending him flying into the crowd. Snape quickly stepped in and shouted, "Why don't we try another pair. Croft and Malfoy, you two have a go."

Rachel quickly ran off of the table and I took her place. As we walked up to each other, Malfoy hissed to me, "Scared, Potter?"

"It's Croft, and you wish," I replied.

We then turned and did our ten paces. After we faced each other, we turned and Lockhart counted, "One, two…"

But before Lockhart said, 'three', Malfoy shouted, "Serpensortia!"

Suddenly, the worst thing possible shot out of Malfoy's wand; a snake. One thing that I'm very afraid of is snakes. I began to back away, fearing that the snake was going to attack. "Don't move, Potter. I'll get rid of it for you," sneered Snape.

I was just about to correct him and tell him that my last name was Croft when Lockhart came forward and said, "Allow me!"

Lockhart flicked his wand and the snake flew into the air, hissing in rage. I watched as the snake slithered towards Justin. I said to the snake, "Leave him alone."

The snake continued to slither towards Justin. "Leave him alone!" shouted Rachel.

The snake turned and looked at me. As it began to slither towards me, I backed away and Harry said, "Leave her alone."

The snake stopped dead in its tracks. Then, Snape flicked his wand and the snake disappeared in a ball of flame. We turned to look at Justin, whose eyes were filled with horror. "What are you playing at?" yelled Justin.

Harry, Rachel and I looked in confusion as Hermione grabbed Harry, Amanda grabbed Rachel and Ron grabbed me. "Come on. Move. Now!" shouted Ron as he dragged us off from the room. They dragged us into the Gryffindor Common Room and turned to look at us. "You're a Parselmouth! Why didn't you tell us?" asked Ron.

"We're a what?" asked Harry.

"You can talk to snakes," explained Hermione.

"Wait, how is that possible? Especially for an Agoraphobic?" asked Rachel, meaning me.

"I know I can talk to snakes. I mean, I accidentally set a python on my cousin Dudley at the zoo once. But so what? I bet loads of people here can do it," said Harry.

"No. They can't. It's not a very common gift, Harry. This is bad," said Amanda.

"What's bad? If we hadn't told the snake not to attack Justin …" I began.

"Oh, that's what you said to it," said Ron.

"You were there! You heard us!" shouted Rachel.

"I heard you three speaking Parseltongue. Snake language," replied Ron.

"We spoke a different language? But we didn't realize…how can we speak a language without knowing we can?" I asked.

"I don't know, Elliot. But it sounded like you were egging the snake on or something. It was...creepy," explained Hermione.

The Gryffindors began walking into the room, eyeing Rachel, Harry and I warily…including Seamus, Neville and Dean. "Guys, listen me out. There's a reason the symbol of Slytherin house is a serpent. Salazar Slytherin was a Parselmouth. He could talk to snakes too," explained Hermione.

"Exactly. And now the whole school's going to think you guys are his great-great-great grandchildren or something," said Ron.

"But we're not. We... can't be," sighed Rachel.

"He lived a thousand years ago. For all we know... you could be," sighed Amanda.

TBC…


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Rachel, Amanda, Harry, Ron, Hermione and I were walking down the halls towards the Common Room for break when Fred and George came running in front of us shouting, "Make way! Dark witches and wizards coming through!"

Amanda, Ron and Hermione were smiling, but Harry, Rachel and I were not. "Oh come on, guys. They were just joking," said Ron.

"I know, but what if they're right?" asked Harry.

"They're not, Harry. It's all in good fun," reassured Amanda.

Just then, McGonagall came walking up to us. "Ms. Croft, Professor Dumbledore would like to see you in his office."

I let out a long sigh as I followed McGonagall. I could hear Rachel singing the funeral song as I followed McGonagall. She led me to the large Phoenix statue and shouted, "Sherbert Lemon."

Again, the stairs spiraled upward and I stepped onto the one closest to me. As soon as I walked into Dumbledore's office, I saw that it was the same as last year; riddled with books, portraits and odd things you would never see in the Muggle world. Just then, Dumbledore walked into the office from the study and smiled at me. "There you are, Elliot. Please, sit."

Slowly, I sat down on the chair in front of Dumbledore's desk as he sat in the large chair. "So, what did I do this time?" I asked.

"It's not what you have done, it's what you haven't done."

"Excuse me?" I asked, completely confused. Leave it to Dumbledore to speak in riddles.

"As I understand it, you've been lacking on your studies."

"Oh, right. Well…"

"No excuses, Elliot. So, in order for you to catch up on your work, I have asked Miss Granger and Miss Janine to help you study after lessons. Also, I will be expecting you to also come in Saturday nights and have a study session with me as well."

"That is totally unfair!" I shouted.

"Well, Elliot, life is unfair, that is true. But it is in that unfairness in which we can live and learn to live a fair life."

"You see, now you've lost me."

Dumbledore just smiled. "You're extra lessons will start after the holidays. I shall be seeing you then, will I?"

"Yes sir," I sighed as I walked out of his office. "Oh, and one more thing, Elliot."

Slowly, I turned around and looked at Dumbledore. "I think it would be wise that we keep our Saturday night lessons a bit of a secret."

I gave a small smile and walked down the stairs. Before I left, I asked, "One more thing, professor. If Amanda is a Muggle-born, then how come she has a vault full of wizard money?"

"I thought you would be asking that. You see, I asked your parents to so kindly donate some of their money to Miss Janine if she should ever need it. Your parents were very giving people."

"Yeah, I'm sure they were," I whispered in a depressed tone as I walked away. Even though I wasn't looking forward to these 'extra lessons', I knew why Dumbledore assigned them. I knew his intentions, and I was very glad. I was just about to run up to the Common Room when Harry, Ron and Rachel came running up to me. "Elliot! Hurry up! We'll be late to Potions class!" stated Rachel.

"Oh yeah, we wouldn't be late now, would we?" I replied sarcastically.

So, we ran down the halls to the dungeons. Luckily, we had arrived before Snape could mark us late. However, he still subtracted ten points, claiming that we were, indeed, late. As we sat at our tables and Snape at the front, brewing a potion, I rested my head on my hand and I would have almost fallen asleep if Rachel hadn't nudge me in the side. "No sleeping, Elli. Do you want to get Gryffindor in trouble again?"

As soon as Rachel said the word 'trouble', a light bulb went on over my head. Slowly, I drew out my wand and flicked it under the table, muttering, "Windgardium Leviosa."

Slowly, the chalk to the chalkboard began floating in midair behind Snape. Rachel hissed to me, "Elliot, no!"

But I ignored her. Instead, I motioned my wand to make the chalk draw a poorly drawn picture of Snape on the chalkboard. I could hear the Gryffindors letting out a small snicker as I drew little thought bubbles. One said, 'No matter how much shampoo I use, I can never get the grease out of my hair'. Another said, 'No matter how much I try, I can never get the Defense Against the Dark Arts job because I'm too stupid'. The last bubble I wrote was 'Severus Snivellus Snape'. I don't know how I created Snivellus, it just popped into my head. After the last bubble was in place, I put the chalk down and placed my wand back into my robes. The classroom grew loud with laughter. "What is so funny!" shouted Snape, now clearly irritated by the laughing.

Seamus pointed behind Snape, which caused him to turn around. I couldn't see his face, but I could picture it. Oh, the surprise. I could just imagine it. I don't know how he knew, but he shouted, "Miss P…Miss Croft! Come to the front, now!"

The class whistled as I walked to the front, a smile spread across my face. "Yes, Professor Snape?" I asked innocently.

"I don't know how you did it, but you drew this, didn't you?"

"Now, why would you say such a thing?" I asked.

I could tell that Snape wanted to answer the question, but he didn't. "I may not be able to prove that it is you, but for your clear disrespect, twenty points from Gryffindor."

I wanted to draw my wand and jinx him, but I knew that all the jinxes I knew were beyond my grade…surely Hermione and Amanda would ask how I knew such a spell, and then I would have to reveal my secret from last year, so I just walked away. Even though I was sort of caught, it was such an amazing feeling.

--oOo--

Harry, Ron, Rachel, Amanda, Hermione and I were studying in the library with all of the other second years later that night. Every now and then, when I wasn't nodding off, I would catch someone staring at Harry, Rachel and I. After we couldn't stand it any longer, we stood up and began to walk away. As Rachel walked away, Harry and I stuck around and listened to what Ernie Macmillian had to say. "So, anyway, I told Justin to hide up in our dormitory. I mean to say, if the Potters or Sinclair marked him down as his next victim, it's best he keep a low profile for a while."

"But why would they want to attack Justin?" asked Hannah.

"Justin let it slip to the Potters that he was Muggle-born."

"And you definitely think the Potters or Sinclair are the Heir of Slytherin?"

"Hannah, they're a Parselmouth. Everyone knows that's the mark of a dark wizard. Have you ever heard of a decent one who could talk to snakes? They called Slytherin himself Serpent-tongue. Remember what was written on the wall? Enemies of the Heir Beware. The Potters had some sort of run-in with Filch. Next thing we know, Filch's cat's attacked. That first-year Creevey's been annoying them. Then Creevey's attacked."

"They've always seemed so nice, though. And, after all, Harry and Elliot are the ones who made You Know Who disappear."

"That's probably why You Know Who wanted to kill them in the first place! He didn't want another Dark Lord competing with him."

We didn't want to hear anymore. Instead, we ran out into the corridor where Rachel stood. "What took you guys so long?"

"Nothing," replied Harry, clearly frustrated. We had just walked out onto the grounds when we ran into Hagrid who stood covered in snow and a dead rooster dangling from his hand. "All righ', guys?" he asked.

"Hagrid... what're you doing here?" asked Rachel.

"Second one killed this term. Reckon it's either foxes or a Blood-Suckin' Bugbear. Need Dumbledore's permission ter put a charm round the hen-coop. Yeh sure yeh're all righ'? Yeh all look all hot an' bothered."

"It's nothing. We'd better get going. We've got a lot of studying..." I lied as we ran away. We had just ran into the third floor corridor when we saw Justin lying rigid on the floor, a look of shock on his frozen face. Nearby, we saw Nearly Headless Nick floating, his body steaming with black smoke. As we examined the scene further, we saw a trail of spiders scuttling away from Justin's body. "Good thing Ron isn't here," I muttered.

We were looking down at Justin's body when we felt like we were being watched. When we turned around, we saw McGonagall. "Professor, I swear…we didn't…" began Rachel.

"This is out of my hands, Sinclair. Mr. Filch, will you take care of this, please?" asked McGonagall.

We looked around to see Mr. Filch lurking in the shadows. Filch hissed at us, "Caught in the act. I'll have you all out this time. Mark my words..."

As McGonagall led us away, we looked back as saw Filch staring at Justin and Nick. "Dark magic. That's what you've got. Even the air you all breathe comes out poison. You're all evil. Evil as they come..." I heard him mutter as McGonagall led us to the statue that hid Dumbledore's office. McGonagall shouted, "Sherbet lemon," and the gargoyle sprung to life, "Professor Dumbledore will be waiting for you."

McGonagall ushered us inside. Quietly, we rode the elevator up into his office. It seemed like déjà vu. That's when we noticed the Sorting hat sitting peacefully on the shelf. As we approached, it came to life. "Bee in your bonnets, children?" it asked.

"Well, you see, I was wondering..." Harry began when I nudged him. "Well, I mean, we were wondering…"

"If I put all of you in the right house? Yes... you were all particularly difficult to place. But I stand by what I said last year... you would have all done well in Slytherin."

"You're wrong," replied Rachel as we walked away. That's when we saw a red bird sitting on a perch. It was a beautiful creature. Rachel was extremely awed by it, I could tell. It was she that led us closer to the magnificent bird. As we got closer, it suddenly burst into flames. We stared horror-struck as Dumbledore walked in. I don't think any one of us was more shocked by the burning bird than Rachel was. When I finally realized that Dumbledore was staring at us, I explained, "Professor, your bird...we couldn't do anything... He just caught fire!"

"About time too. He's been looking dreadful for days. Pity you had to see him on a Burning Day. He's really very handsome most of the time."

We stared at him in confusion. Why would a bird just burst into flames for no reason? I was so totally lost. As if reading our minds, Dumbledore replied, "Fawkes is a phoenix. Phoenixes burst into flame when it is time for them to die and are reborn from the ashes."

We stared at the ashes as a small baby Fawkes sprung from the dust. I think Rachel was relieved to learn that the phoenix was still alive. "Fascinating creatures, phoenixes. They can carry immensely heavy loads, their tears have healing powers, and they make highly faithful pets."

Just then, Hagrid, still clutching the dead rooster from earlier, burst through the door. "It wasn't them, Professor Dumbledore!"

I think all of us practically jumped out of our skins, except for Dumbledore, of course. "Hagrid…" started Dumbledore.

"I was talkin' ter 'im jus' before that kid was found. It can't've bin them!" continued Hagrid.

Rachel and I began to laugh. "Hagrid…" tried Dumbledore again, a bit louder.

"I'll swear ter it in front o' the Ministry o' Magic…" continued Hagrid.

"HAGRID!" finally shouted Dumbledore.

Hagrid finally fell silent as Dumbledore stated, "I do not think that they have attacked anyone."

"Oh. Right. I'll wait outside then," muttered Hagrid, completely embarrassed. As soon as Hagrid had exited, we looked at Dumbledore hopefully. "You don't think it was us, Professor?" asked Rachel.

"No, Rachel. But I must ask you...is there anything you three would like to tell me. Anything at all?" asked Dumbledore.

There was a long pause. Each of us debated whether or not to tell Dumbledore about the voices we were hearing. Hermione did say that hearing voices is never a good sign. Finally, I replied, "No, Professor. Nothing."

TBC…


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

For the entire school year, Fred and George would continue to crack jokes about us being dark wizards. They would often shout, "Make way for the Heir of Slytherin! Seriously evil witch and wizard coming through!"

It was quite funny and we had all gotten use to it by now, but Hermione continued to tell us that the Polyjuice Potion would be ready in a matter of days. She said that about…oh, I don't know…eight days in a row! As we walked into the Great Hall, the hall glimmered grandly as the snowflakes tumbled from the ceiling. We all sat together as Hermione stated, "Everything's set. We just need a bit of who you're changing into."

About time, I thought. "Crabbe and Goyle," stated Harry.

"Oh, and Pansy Parkinson. I've seen how Malfoy looks at her. He would tell anything to her," I explained.

"And we also need to make sure that the real Pansy, Crabbe and Goyle can't burst in on us while we're interrogating Malfoy," stated Hermione.

"How?" asked Ron.

Hermione then placed two small cakes on the table. "I've got it all worked out. I've filled these with a simple Sleeping Draught. Simple, but powerful. You know how greedy Crabbe and Goyle are. They won't leave the Christmas Feast until every last drop of trifle is gone. Now, once they're asleep, hide them in a broom cupboard and pull out a few of their hairs," explained Hermione.

"What about Pansy?" I asked.

"I've sent her a note from Malfoy telling her to meet him at the entrance hall in ten minutes. You can then meet up with her and lock her in the broom cupboard. But make sure to take out a few of her hairs," she explained.

"And whose hair are you ripping out?" asked Ron.

"I've already got mine," replied Hermione, holding up a vial with a tiny hair, "Millicent Bulstrode. She's in Slytherin. I got this off her robes. All right then... I'm going to check on the Polyjuice Potion."

And with that, Hermione rose from the table and pointed to the cakes in front of her. "Remember. Just make sure they find these."

And with that, Hermione left. Ron then looked at us. "Have you ever heard of a plan where so many things could go wrong?" asked Ron.

"Actually, yes," I replied.

Ron and Harry tagged along with me as I went to get Pansy. I hid behind one of the statues and waited for her to show up. And, just like the note said, she showed up ten minutes later. "How are you going to get her hairs without you knowing?" asked Ron.

"Just watch," I smiled as I cleared my throat and pointed my wand at a suit of armor. I then muttered, "_Windgardium Leviosa_."

The helmet from the suit lifted into the air just above Pansy's head. "One…two…three," I smiled as I put my wand away and the helmet fell on her head, knocking her unconscious.

We all laughed as I ran up to her and pulled out a few of her hairs. Then, I stuffed her in the broom closet and waited with Harry and Ron for Crabbe and Goyle. Harry, Ron and I lurked behind a suit of armor as we stared at the cakes resting peacefully on the ground. Ron drew out his wand and was about to compel the levitating charm I had just performed earlier when Harry stopped him. "Um, maybe I should do this."

Ron stared at his wand and nodded as Harry uttered the chant. Just then, Crabbe and Goyle came walking out and saw at the cakes. They each take one and before you knew it, Crabbe and Goyle stuffed their faces. It was gross watching them stuff their faces. But then, they fell onto the floor asleep. "How thick can you get?" asked Ron.

We then drug their sleeping forms into a cupboard and pulled out a few of their hairs. When we ran into the girl's lavatory, we saw Hermione wearing Slytherin robes, hovering over a smoking cauldron. "Did you get it?" she asked.

Harry, Ron and I held up our hands. We each had a tuft of hair as Hermione pointed to three sets of Slytherin robes. "I sneaked those out of the laundry. I'm sure I've done everything right. It looks like the book said it should. Once we've drunk it, we'll have exactly one hour before we change back into ourselves."

"Now what?" asked Ron.

"We separate it into three glasses and add the hairs."

Harry, Ron and I grimaced. Hermione then began to pour the potion into four glasses. After we changed into the Slytherin robes, we raised our glasses and added the hairs. Harry's turned Brown, Ron's turned khaki, Hermione's turned yellow and mine turned purple. "Ugh. Essence of Crabbe..." grimaced Ron.

We nodded and drank. It tasted disgusting. After Ron swallowed, he doubled over. "Think I'm gonna be sick..." he said as he dropped the glass and ran into a cubicle.

"Me too," said Hermione as she followed Ron's example.

After hers fell, I felt sick and ran into a cubicle. As I threw up into the toilet, I saw my skin bubbling. I felt my skin morph and when everything stopped, I walked out into the lavatory and found Harry…or was it Goyle? "Harry?" I asked.

"Elliot?"

I walked up to the mirror and saw that I, indeed, looked like Pansy. Just then, Ron…or Crabbe…walked out of a cubicle. "Harry? Elliot?"

"Ron?" we chorused.

"Bloody hell," stated Ron.

"We still sound like ourselves. You need to sound more like Crabbe and Pansy."

"Bloody hell," said Ron with a deeper voice.

"Excellent. Now, you're turn, Elliot."

"Easy," I said with a snort.

"Wow! You can pull pranks, play Quidditch, defeat You-Know-Who, read people, and impersonate people! Is there anything you can't do?" asked Ron.

"I can't cook," I replied

"Hey... Where's Hermione?" asked Ron.

That's when we heard Hermione shout, "I…I don't think I'm going. You go on without me."

"Hermione, are you okay?" asked Harry.

"Just go! You're wasting time!" she shouted again.

As we walked down the staircase, Harry turned to Ron and said, "Don't swing your arms like that. Crabbe holds them sort of stiff."

I laughed as they both went more Neanderthal. "Yeah. That's better," laughed Ron.

As we moved more quickly, we heard footsteps. Just then, Percy appeared at the end of the corridor. "What are you doing here?" asked Ron in his normal voice.

Percy stared at us, confused by Ron's voice. Quickly, Harry elbowed Ron, who cleared his throat and spoke in a lower voice. "What are you doing here?"

"I happen to be a prefect. You, on the other hand, have no business wandering the corridors at night. It's not safe these days," replied Percy.

We all nod, afraid to speak. Percy stared at us in confusion. "What're your names again?"

We were just about to answer when Draco came running, shouting, "Crabbe. Goyle. Where have you been? Pigging out in the Great Hall all this time? Oh, hello Pansy," he smiled as he ran his finger down my arm. I could see Ron clench his fist, but Harry yanked on his arm. Why is it that no matter who I am, Malfoy can't resist me? As he smiled at me, he glanced at Percy. "And what are you doing down here, Weasley?"

"Mind your attitude, Malfoy. You want to show a little bit more respect to a school Prefect!" replied Percy through his teeth.

"Come on, boys. Weasley thinks he's going to catch Slytherin's heir single-handed," he laughed s we walked off. Malfoy led us down into the Slytherin Common Room. As we walked in, he walked to the table and picked up an edition of the Daily Prophet. "Listen to this...'Arthur Weasley, Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, was today fined fifty Galleons for bewitching a Muggle car. 'Weasley has brought the Ministry into disrepute,' said Lucius Malfoy, a governor of Hogwarts.' He is clearly unfit to draw up our laws and his ridiculous Muggle Protection Act should be scrapped immediately."

Grinning, Malfoy glanced over the paper at us. "Arthur Weasley loves Muggle so much he should snap his wand in half and go join them. You'd never know the Weasleys were purebloods, the way they behave. Embarrassment to the wizarding world. All of them," continued Malfoy.

Ron growled at Malfoy just as Harry elbowed him. Before I could sit down, Malfoy grabbed my hand and pulled me over to him. "What's up with you, Crabbe?"

"Stomachache," replied Ron in a low voice.

"Well, go to the hospital wing and give all those Mudbloods a kick in the arse for me! You know, I'm surprised The Daily Prophet hasn't reported all these attacks yet. I suppose Dumbledore's trying to hush it all up. He'll be sacked if it doesn't stop soon. Father always said Dumbledore's the worst thing that's ever happened to this place," laughed Malfoy.

"You're wrong!" shouted Harry.

We all looked at him with shock. Slowly, Malfoy stood up and walked towards Harry. "What? Did you say that I was wrong? You think there's someone here who's worse than Dumbledore?"

Ron and I stiffened with worry. Quickly, I thought and said, "Harry Potter?"

"Good one, Pansy. You're absolutely right. Saint Potter and his filthy sister. They're another one with no proper wizard feeling, or they wouldn't go around with those Mudbloods Granger and Janine. And people actually think they're the Heir of Slytherin?"

We exchanged looks and Harry asked, "Then you must have some idea who's behind it all?"

"You know I haven't, Goyle. How many times do I have to tell you? But my father did say this much: It's been fifty years since the Chamber was opened. He wouldn't tell me who opened it…only that they were expelled…but I know this: the last time the Chamber of Secrets was opened, a Mudblood died. So it's only a matter of time before one of them's killed this time. As for me... I hope it's Granger or Janine."

As Malfoy grinned, Ron clenched his fist and stood up to strike, but Harry brought him down. "What's the matter with you two? You're acting very... odd."

As soon as Malfoy said that, he turned away and I saw Harry's scar reappear and Ron's red hair return. "Guys," I whispered.

But they pointed to me and I saw that my hair was turning red again. Quickly, we high-tailed it out of there. "Hey! Where are you going?" shouted Malfoy.

As we raced towards the stairs, the broom closet burst open and a woozy Crabbe, Goyle and Pansy staggered out. They froze as they watched themselves run up the staircase. As soon as we reached the girl's lavatory, we were fully ourselves. "That was close!" panted Ron.

"Hermione, come out," shouted Harry.

"We've got loads to tell you!" I finished.

"Go away!" she shouted from the cubicle.

Just then, Moaning Myrtle came flying at us. "Ooh, wait till you see. It's awful!"

As she flew away, a small cackle came into the room. The stall slid back and the door opened slowly. "Do you remember me telling you the Polyjuice Potion was only for human transformations...?" came Hermione's voice as she turned around.

And what I saw was hilarious. Hermione's face was covered in fur, her eyes yellow and her pointed ears poked through her hair. "It was cat hair I plucked off Millicent Bulstrode's robes! Look at my face!" she said.

"Look at your tail," Ron smiled as I laughed.

--oOo--

Hermione was quickly admitted to the hospital wing and treated. After a couple weeks, Hermione asked us bring her the homework she had missed in her classes. So, Harry, Ron, Amanda, Rachel and I came staggering in under the weight of the library books. When we arrived, we saw Hermione's bed covered in books already. "Oh, good. Put those anywhere."

We took a look and noticed that there was no more room. So, we just dropped them. "Madam Pince asked that we relay a message to you, Hermione: She'd appreciate it if you'd leave a few books for the rest of the school," stated Rachel.

"I've got to keep up, haven't I?" she asked as her tail twitched into view. "Is that thing ever going away?" asked Amanda.

"Any day now, according to Madam Pomfrey. I'm just thankful I've stopped coughing up fur balls," sighed Hermione.

"We all are, believe me," I finished.

"Now. What about the Chamber of Secrets? Any new leads?" asked Rachel.

"Nothing," sighed Harry.

"And has it gotten any better? I mean... is anyone speaking to any of you?" asked Hermione.

"Neville asked to borrow a tubeworm in Potions yesterday. I suppose that's something," said Harry.

"Seamus apologized for bumping into me. But that was probably because he was afraid I was going to petrify him," I muttered.

"Well, Dean and Lee asked if I wanted to help them with their homework," replied Rachel.

Just then, Ron took a get well card from under Hermione's pillow. "'To Miss Granger. Wishing you a speedy recovery, from your concerned teacher Gilderoy Lockhart.' You sleep with this under your pillow?" asked Ron.

"Of course not. I don't know how that got there. Now go. I still have six hundred pages to read in _Transformation Through the Ages_," replied Hermione as she flipped another page. That was our cue to leave. Amanda elected to stay behind to talk with Hermione while Harry, Ron, Rachel and I headed towards the Common Room. "I know Hermione's mental, but can you believe she falls for that smarmy nonsense of Lockhart's?" Ron asked.

Just then, we stopped. The floor was flooded with water. "Looks like Myrtle's flooded the bathroom," sighed Harry.

Harry splashed toward the bathroom while we stepped lightly. "Yuck," stated Ron.

When we walked in, we saw Myrtle floating above one of the cubicles. As soon as she noticed us, she asked, "Come to throw something else at me?"

"Why would I throw something at you?" asked Harry.

"Don't ask me. Here I am, minding my own business, and someone thinks it's funny to throw a book at me..."

"But it can't hurt if someone throws something at you," started Ron.

"Yeah, I mean, it'd just go right through you, wouldn't it?" I finished.

Just then, she flew towards us, clearly angry. "Oh sure! Let's all throw books at Myrtle, because she can't feel it! Ten points if you can get it through her stomach," she shouted, punching Ron in the stomach, "Thirty points if you get it through her chest," she shouted as she punched Rachel in the chest, "Fifty points if it goes through her head!" she finished as she punched me through the head.

"Who threw it at you anyway?" asked Harry.

"I don't know. I didn't see them. I was just sitting in the U-bend, thinking about death and it fell through the top of my head," explained Moaning Myrtle.

Slowly, we walked over to the toilet Myrtle was talking about and Harry picked up a small black book. Ron leaned over and whispered into my ear, "Fifty points if you can get it through her nose."

"I HEARD THAT!" shouted Myrtle, causing all of us to dash out of the bathroom. As we walked, Harry examined the book. "This is a diary. And it's old..."

"It's a diary, it's old... and was most recently in a toilet, Harry," stated Ron.

As Harry began to open it, Ron grabbed his hand. "Are you mad? That could be cursed. Dad once told me about a book the Ministry confiscated that burned the eyes out of anyone who tried to read it."

"I'll take my chances... Ahhh! MY EYES! MY EYES!" I shouted as I took the book from Harry's hands and as I opened the book, I placed my hands on my eyes dropping the book. Ron stood there, frozen to the spot as I grinned, ending the ruse. "It's not funny!" shouted Ron as he finally breathed in. I was laughing when, at the end of the corridor, we saw Ginny standing there, looking from the diary at me who had just picked it back up…with what seemed to be utter terror. Suddenly, she ran off. "Ginny! I was only joking…Brilliant. Even your sister thinks we're the monster now."

"Who doesn't?" asked Rachel.

Ron frowned suddenly. "What?" I asked.

Ron pointed to the front page of the diary. It was inscribed with a name; Tom Marvolo Riddle. "Tom Marvolo Riddle? Hang on. I know that name... Of course! The night I had detention... My job was to polish the silver in the trophy room. I remember because I kept burping slugs all over Tom Riddle's trophy. I must have wiped slime off his name for an hour," Ron explained.

Quickly, I fanned the pages, hoping for something…but it was empty. "That's odd. He never wrote in it," noticed Rachel.

Quickly, we ran to the hospital wing where we met up with Amanda and Hermione. "Tom Riddle... Hm. And Ron said he won an award fifty years ago?" asked Hermione.

"Special Services to the School or something…" explained Harry.

"Fifty years ago? You're sure?" asked Amanda.

"Yes. Why?" I asked.

"Don't you remember what Malfoy told you? The last time the Chamber of Secrets was opened was…" began Hermione.

"Fifty years ago! That means…" began Harry.

"Tom Riddle was here at Hogwarts when it happened. What if he wrote about what he saw? It's possible he knew where the Chamber was, how to open it, even what sort of creature lives in it. If so, whoever's behind the attacks this time wouldn't want a diary like this lying around, would they?" explained Hermione.

"That's a brilliant theory, Hermione. With just one tiny little flaw. There's nothing written in this diary," I replied sarcastically.

"It might be invisible ink. _Aparecium_!" explained Hermione as she took the book and tapped the diary three times with her wand. Nothing happened. The pages remained blank. We frown as she passed the book to Harry. "I don't know, Harry. But I think you should be careful with this. Something tells me Ron might be right. It could be dangerous," stated Hermione.

"You don't think we're dangerous, do you, Hermione? I mean, you're not scared of us," I asked.

"I'm scared, but not of you three," she finishes.

TBC…


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

After Madam Pomfrey kicked us out of the Hospital Wing, we all sat around the Common Room as Harry continued to examine the book. "There's nothing written in the bloody book, Harry," I shouted, clearly irritated.

"Oh come on, Elliot. How can there be a diary with nothing written in it?" asked Harry as he flipped through the pages.

I let out a long sigh as Rachel and Amanda stood up. "We're going to bed. Good luck Harry," stated Rachel.

As Rachel walked up the stairs, Amanda smiled, "Night, guys," and ran up after her.

Just as they disappeared, Ron stood up and yawned. "I think I'm gonna go to bed to, Harry. Night Harry, night Elliot," he yawned as he stumbled up the stairs.

Slowly, Harry turned to me and asked, "Are you gonna go to bed to, then?"

"No. I know exactly what is going to happen if I do, though. Amanda and Rachel are going to scold me for being so impatient and that you're just trying to figure this thing out. So, I'm going to wait until they fall asleep, and then I'll head to bed," I smiled as I lay back on the couch and rested my hands behind my head.

"Sounds like a good plan," replied Harry as he returned to the diary. I continued to watch him for awhile, and before I knew it, I was falling asleep. I wasn't asleep for more than ten minutes when Harry shook me awake. "Elliot! Elliot, get up!"

"What? Is it morning already?" I yawned.

"No! I know who opened the Chamber of Secrets. It was Hagrid!"

I shot straight up and stared at Harry like he was mental. "What? Hagrid? No, it couldn't have been him! He wasn't even in Slytherin!"

"I know, but Riddle caught Hagrid with a monster…maybe it was the monster from the Chamber."

I stared at him in confusion. "I think you need to get some sleep."

"Elliot, it was Hagrid!"

"Why don't we talk about it in the morning when Hermione is released from the Hospital Wing, 'kay? For now, go get some sleep."

Harry let out a long sigh as he walked up the stairs. I would have too, if I hadn't of fallen asleep again on the couch.

--oOo--

That day, we were walking through the grounds of Hogwarts, talking about what Harry received from the diary. "It can't be Hagrid. It just can't be," stated Amanda.

"We don't even know this Riddle. He sounds like a dirty, rotten snitch to me," said Ron.

"The monster had killed someone, Ron. What would any of us done?" asked Harry.

"Look. Hagrid's our friend. Why don't we just go ask him about it?" suggested Rachel.

"That'd be a cheerful visit. Hullo, Hagrid. Tell us, have you been setting anything mad and hairy loose in the castle lately?" smiled Ron.

I had just giggled when Hagrid's voice said behind us, "Mad an' hairy? Wouldn' be talkin' 'bou me, now would yeh?"

We all spun around and found Hagrid grinning at us. I knew that we looked guilty. "No!" we chorused together.

Hagrid looked at us curiously. I then nodded to the canister in Hagrid's hand. "What's that you've got, Hagrid?" I asked.

"Flesh-Eatin' Slug Repellent. Fer the Mandrakes, yeh know. Accordin' ter Professor Sprout, they still got a bit o' growin' up ter do, but once their acne clears up, we'll be able to chop 'em up, stew 'em, an' get those people in the hospital un-Petrified. 'Til then, you six best watch yerselves, all righ'?"

We nodded as we watched Hagrid lope away. Just then, Neville came running up to us. From what I could tell, he looked pale with fright. "Harry, I don't know who did it, but... you'd better come."

We followed Neville up to the Gryffindor Common Room and into the boy's dormitory that was a bloody mess. "It had to be a Gryffindor. Nobody else knows our password. Unless, it wasn't a student..." suggested Amanda.

"Well, whoever it was, they were looking for something," I stated.

"And they found it... Tom Riddle's diary is gone," replied Harry.

We all stared in disbelief. Our one lead to solving this 'riddle' was now gone. We were so doomed.

--oOo--

The next day, everyone was running to the Quidditch Stadium. It was our match against Hufflepuff and we knew we didn't stand a chance. Harry, Rachel and I were dressed in our Quidditch robes and we were dashing down the staircase with Ron, Hermione and Amanda. At the bottom of the stairs, we spotted Ginny. "Hey, Ginny! Going to the match?" asked Ron.

Ginny shook her head and ran off. "I tell you, she gets weirder and weirder by the day..." sighed Ron.

Just then, Harry, Rachel and I heard the voice again. "Kill this time... Let me rip...Tear."

We froze to the spot. Ron, Hermione and Amanda stopped, knowing by our faces. "No... don't tell me..." sighed Ron.

As we look around, the voice suddenly disappeared. Just then, Hermione grabbed Amanda's hand and ran off. "Where are you guys going?" I asked.

"I think I've just understood something! We've got to go to the library!" replied Hermione, dragging Amanda by the arm.

As they sprinted towards the stairs, Harry yelled, "What do you understand!"

But they were already gone. Slowly, Rachel turned to us and asked, "The library?"

"That's Hermione. When in doubt, go to the library," was Ron's reply.

Ron had left us as we walked into the locker room. Wood was now leading us out towards the Quidditch tower where we could hear the cheers of the crowd. "Listen up now. We play our game, Hufflepuff doesn't stand a chance. We're stronger, quicker, smarter," said Wood.

"Not to mention they're dead terrified Harry, Elliot and Rachel will petrify them if they fly anywhere near them," laughed George.

"That, too," smiled Wood as Professor McGonagall appeared. All eyes turned to me. "Hey, I didn't do anything…yet," I shot back at their glares.

"This match has been cancelled," she explained.

"Cancelled! They can't cancel Quidditch --" started Wood.

"Silence, Wood! You will return to Gryffindor Tower now. Potter, Croft and Sinclair, you and I will find Mr. Weasley. There's something the four of you need to see."

McGonagall led us to the hall where we met up with Ron. From there, we followed her up to the Hospital Wing. "There's been another double attack. I warn you. This will be a bit of a shock."

When she opened the door, we saw Madam Pomfrey leaning over two beds. When she stood up, we saw Amanda and Hermione, petrified. "Hermione!" shouted Ron.

"Amanda!" shouted Rachel.

As we rushed to their bedsides, McGonagall explained, "They were found near the library, along with this. Does it mean anything to either of you?" she asked, holding up a mirror.

We just shook our heads. McGonagall nodded gravely as she led us out to the Common Room. As soon as we walked in, everyone was standing around the room. George was cradling a depressed-looking Fred…I could only tell this because the only reason one of them would be depressed if something happened to Amanda and Rachel. McGonagall took out a sheet of paper and read, "All students will return to their house common rooms by six o'clock in the evening. You will be escorted to each lesson by a teacher. No exceptions. I should tell you all this. Unless the culprit behind these attacks is caught, it is likely that the school will be closed."

McGonagall then turned and left us to talk amongst ourselves. "Haven't any of the teachers noticed that the Slytherins are all safe? Isn't it obvious all this stuff's coming from Slytherin? The Heir of Slytherin, the monster of Slytherin -- why don't they just chuck all the Slytherins out?" asked Neville.

"They can't close Hogwarts. Where would we all go?" continued Seamus.

"I don't care what anyone says. As long as Dumbledore's here, Hogwarts will be here," shouted Dean.

Harry then turned and whispered to us, "We've got to talk to Hagrid. I can't believe it's him. But if he did set the monster loose last time -- even by accident -- he'll know how to get inside the Chamber of Secrets. And that's a start."

"But you heard McGonagall. We're not allowed to leave the tower except for class --" stated Rachel.

"I think it's time to get my Dad's old Cloak out again," I smiled as I ran up the stairs into the girl's dormitory. As soon as I came back, we quickly draped the cloak over us and silently walked out. We slowly made our way down to Hagrid's hut. The walk was very uncomfortable with four of us. I knew that this was going to be tough when we were older. Finally, we made it down to the door. Quickly I knocked on the door. When Hagrid opened it, he had a crossbow pointed directly at us. "Who's there?" he asked.

Quickly, we drop the cloak, causing Hagrid to lower the crossbow. "What's that for?" asked Harry.

"Nothin', nothin'. I've been expectin'... Doesn't matter. Sit down... I'll make tea..." he explained.

"Do you greet everyone like that?" I asked as Hagrid nervously took the kettle and spilt some water. "Are you okay? Hagrid? Did you hear about Hermione and Amanda?" asked Rachel.

"Oh, yea. I heard, all righ'," he replied, ignoring the first question.

"Look... we have to ask you something. Do you know who's opened the Chamber of Secrets?" asked Harry.

Hagrid took a fruit cake and stopped, about to answer when there was a loud knock. The fruitcake smashed to the floor. Panicked, we threw the cloak over us as Hagrid grabbed his crossbow and pointed it at the door. "C-come in," he said as he put the crossbow down and allowed Dumbledore and a short, stout man in.

"Good evening, Hagrid," greeted Dumbledore.

"That's Dad's boss! Cornelius Fudge. The Minister of Magic!" whispered Ron.

I elbowed Ron to shut him up. "Bad business, Hagrid. Very bad business. Had to come. Five attacks on Muggle-borns. Things've gone far enough. Ministry's got to act," sighed Fudge.

"I never... You know I never, Professor Dumbledore, sir..." pleaded Hagrid.

"I want it understood, Cornelius, that Hagrid has my full confidence," explained Dumbledore.

"Look, Albus, Hagrid's record's against him. I've got to take him."

"Take me? Where? Not Azkaban prison."

"For a short stretch only. Not a punishment, Hagrid. More a precaution. If someone else is caught, you'll be released with a full apology."

Just then, there is another sharp rap on the door. As Dumbledore opened it, we slumped. It was Lucius Malfoy. "Already here, Fudge? Good, good..." he greeted.

"What're you doin' here! Get outta my house!"

"My dear man, please believe me, I have no pleasure at all in being inside your -- do you call this a house? I simply called at the school and was told the Headmaster was here."

"And what exactly did you want with me, Lucius?" asked Dumbledore.

"Dreadful thing, Dumbledore, but the governors feel it's time for you to step aside. This is an Order of Suspension. You'll find all twelve signatures on it. I'm afraid we feel you're losing your touch. What with all these attacks, there'll be no Muggle-borns left at Hogwarts. And we all know what an awful loss that would be," he sneered as he handed an official roll of parchment to Fudge.

"Now, see here, Lucius. Dumbledore suspended. No, no... last thing we want right now... If Dumbledore can't stop these attacks... I mean to say, who can?" said Fudge.

"That remains to be seen, but as all twelve governors have voted --

"An' how many did yeh have ter threaten before they agreed!" shouted Hagrid.

"He probably threatened all of them," I whispered, receiving an elbow to the stomach by Rachel.

"I would advise you not to shout at the Azkaban guards like that," he sneered back.

"Yeh can't take Dumbledore! Take him away an' the Muggle-borns won' stand a chance! There'll be killin's next!"

"Calm yourself, Hagrid! If the governors want my removal, Lucius, I shall of course step aside. However... you will find that I will only truly have left this school when none here are loyal to me. You will also find that help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who... ask for it," stated Dumbledore as he eyes drifted to us. I knew he could see us, and it was kind of scary.

"Admirable sentiments. We shall all miss your highly individual way of running things, Albus, and only hope your successor will manage to prevent any more, um, killin's," snided Malfoy as he strode out of the door and bowed Dumbledore out.

Fudge fiddled with his bowler as he waited for Hagrid. Instead, Hagrid stood his ground and said carefully, "If anyone wanted ter find out some stuff, all they'd have ter do is follow the spiders. That'd lead 'em right! Tha's all I'm sayin'."

Fudge stared at Hagrid in amazement, then followed him out. As the door slammed shut, Fang started to howl, scratching at the closed door. We emerged from the cloak, completely horror-stricken. "Hagrid's right. With Dumbledore gone, there'll be an attack a day," shouted Ron.

"Look..." I pointed. At the windowsill was a trail of spiders escaping through a crack in the glass. Harry grabbed Hagrid's lantern, shouting at us, "C'mon."

Harry illuminated the trail of spiders. They ran from the window to the ground, to the dark trees in the near distance. As Harry, Rachel and I moved to follow, Ron hesitated. "What are you doing?" asked Ron.

"You heard Hagrid. Follow the spiders," stated Rachel.

"They're heading into the Dark Forest," shouted Ron, completely scared.

We sighed and headed off. Terrified, Ron grabbed Fang and followed. "Why does it have to be 'Follow the spiders'? Why couldn't it be 'Follow the butterflies'?"

I laughed as we made our way into the dark forest. Fang crashed through low-slung branches and sharp brambles as we followed. Ron gingerly picked his way as we continued our walk. Suddenly, we all jumped as Fang howled as branches snapped and a rumbling noise came. All of a sudden, it went quite. That's when Harry spotted something and pointed to it. "There's something moving over there... something big."

Just then, a blaze of light splintered the trees, blinding us. We began to run when Ron stopped. "Harry...Harry, it's our car!"

Scratched and mud-smeared, with bits of earth and grass sprouting from its headlamps and hubcaps was the Ford Anglia that looked half-animal. We circled it in wonder and confusion. "It's been here all the time! Look at it. The Forest has turned it wild," stated Ron.

Harry nodded then glanced back up the slope where the trail of spiders continued. "C'mon, we don't want to lose the trail," stated Rachel as we ran after her.

After running for a long while, we entered a hollow ribboned with shadows. Enormous trees towered over us, strewn with strands of white webbing. As Ron stepped on a strand, he kicked it off queasily. Harry and Rachel peered up ahead. At the far end of the hollow we saw the spiders streamed towards a dark opening. As we approached the opening, a clicking sound emanates from within, echoing in the branches of the tall trees. The sound began to grow louder, causing Ron to falter and glance about nervously. I faltered with him. There was something that didn't sit right with me. "I don't have a good feeling about this…" I stated.

"Don't panic," replied Harry.

As Harry and Rachel stepped towards the mouth of the cavern, the air suddenly crackled with movement. The twigs snapped and a huge shadow emerged, slowly engulfing Harry and Rachel. Both of them peered up. Standing in front of us was an ancient spider, the size of a small elephant. As it advanced, we backed away slowly. Then, its blind eyes caught the light and it stopped…as if it were listening. "You do not come from the forest. Your hearts beat like... men," the spider said.

"Yes. We're friends of Hagrid's. And you... you're...Aragog, aren't you?" asked Harry, taking a deep breath.

"Hagrid has never sent men into our hollow before," stated Aragog.

"He's in trouble. Up at school, there've been attacks. They think it's Hagrid. They think he's opened the Chamber of Secrets. Like before," explained Rachel.

As Harry and Rachel talked, Ron and my eyes darted warily about, then…a pair of long legs…spider's legs…curl slowly around the trunk of the tree to our left. Terrified, Ron nudged Harry, but Harry ignored him. "That's a lie! Hagrid never opened the Chamber of Secrets!" shouted Aragog.

"But if Hagrid never... that means... you're not the monster," said Rachel.

"The monster was born in the castle. I came from a distant land, in the pocket of a traveler."

Ron and I turned to see two crawling silhouettes inch forward. Suddenly, they stopped… waiting…almost watching us. "Harry..." Ron squeaked.

"Shhh! But if you're not the monster, what did kill that girl fifty years ago?" asked Harry.

"We do not speak of it! It is an ancient creature we spiders fear above all others."

"But have you seen it?" asked Rachel.

A scrabbling sound echoed above Ron and me. We glanced up to see a spider crouched on a branch above. "I never saw any part of the castle but the cupboard in which Hagrid kept me. The girl was discovered in a bathroom. When I was accused, Hagrid brought me here."

There was more scrabbling. When Ron and I looked up, we saw spiders in high and low branches, dropping downward like paratroopers. Ron grabbed Harry as I grabbed Rachel. "What!" they asked, clearly annoyed.

We pointed in the sky, causing Harry and Rachel to look and turn pale. As we turned slowly back to Aragog, Harry said, "Well... thank you. We'll just go..."

"Go? I think not. My sons and daughters do not harm Hagrid, on my command. But I cannot deny them fresh meat when it wanders so willingly into our midst. Goodbye, friend of Hagrid."

Aragog then turned, disappearing into the shadows of the cavern.

"Can we panic now?" whimpered Ron.

When we spun around, a gang of five-foot spiders barred the path ahead. When they began to move forward, we spun again, we saw more spiders everywhere…closing in on us. Desperately, Harry swings the lantern in his hand, causing the spiders to falter, then creep forward again as the arc of the light chases itself away around and around. Then, the lantern goes out. As Harry pitched it aside, we drew our wands. "Nice knowing you," I squeaked.

We were done for. As the spiders drew closer, clicking feverishly, Fang whimpers. They were almost on top of us when a loud, long horn bleated. Seconds later, a blaze of light ignited the hollow and the Ford Anglia came thundering over the rim and down the slope, knocking spiders out of its path. As it screeched to a halt, the doors flung open. "Let's go!" shouted Rachel as we leapt inside.

Ron got into the driver's seat and shifted frantically. A spider then appeared at Harry's open window. "THE WINDOWS! ROLL UP THE WINDOWS!" shouted Harry.

"I CAN'T! IT'S STUCK!" shouted Ron as a hairy leg reached through Ron's window. Instantly, Ron hit the gas and threw the car into reverse. Spiders began to scatter, but the two clinging to the side windows held tight. As the car zoomed backwards out of the hollow, Harry rolled his window tight, snapping off his spider's legs. The Anglia jetted out of the hollow and landed with a thud. We turned to see the other spider pulling Ron from the car. Harry was just about to point his wand when I pointed it at the spider and shouted "_Arania Examai!"_

The spider backed off of Ron and ran from the car. "Thanks for that," he gasped.

"Don't mention it," I replied as we heard a distant clicking. As the car flew over the ridge, we saw a sea of spiders heading straight for us like a herd of raging wildebeest. Ron put his foot to the floor, spun the wheel and sent the car sliding away. The spiders stampeded after as we slalomed through the forest, skimming past trees. We peered ahead to see a fallen tree. There was only one opening…clearly narrow. "That way! It's the only way out! Hurry! They're catching up!" shouted Rachel.

Ron jammed the accelerator, just as a giant tarantula dropped in front of the escape route. We were as good as dead. "Can you get us in the air?" I asked.

As Ron jostled the shifter, he shouted, "Flying gear's jammed!"

The spiders drew closer. The tarantula waited ahead as we got closer to him. I reached over and clapped my hand over Ron's on the gear and pushed. The tarantula's pincers opened, ready to kill us when the gear shift gave and the Anglia's wheels lifted the car into the air, leaving ht furious spiders below. The car barely avoided the rearing tarantula, and then sailed over the trees. As we landed, Fang bolted free of the car. We exited the car wearily, and then we watched it run and rumble back into the forest. "'Follow the spiders'! Follow the spiders'! If he ever gets out of Azkaban, I'll kill Hagrid. I mean, what was the point of sending us in there? What have we found out?" asked Ron.

"We know one thing. Hagrid never opened the Chamber of Secrets. He was innocent," stated Rachel.

I nodded as I asked, "Can we please get to bed, I think I've had enough for one day. There's nothing like almost getting eaten by a herd of spiders to wear you out."

Harry, Ron and Rachel laughed as we headed back to the Common Room.

TBC…


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

The next day, we left Rachel in the Common Room, due to the fact that she complained of a headache, and headed to the Hospital Wing, where Madam Pomfrey barred the door and frowned at us. "There's no point in talking to a petrified person. They won't hear a word you're saying."

"We know that, Madam Pomfrey. It's just, well, you see, we thought, maybe, we could... be with them for a bit. They're our... friends, you see, and... even if they can't hear us... I mean, it can't hurt, can it?" asked Ron.

A glint of sympathy flickered in Pomfrey's eyes. "Very well then. But be quick about it."

As she left us, we stepped to Amanda and Hermione's beds. Absently, Ron picked up the circular mirror that laid on the nightstand and eyed Lockhart's Get Well card. "You don't think Lockhart could be the heir of Slytherin, do you?" I asked.

Harry and Ron stared at me like I was crazy. "Right. Forget I said it."

Then we turned and looked at Hermione and Amanda. "Wish you guys were here. We need you. Now more than ever... "

Just then, the mirror in Ron's hand caught the late afternoon sunlight and cast a jagged flame across Hermione's hand. We watched the light dance over her hand and then looked closer. That's when we saw a piece of paper clutched in her hand. Slowly, Harry took the slip of paper from her hand just as Madam Pomfrey came in, yelling at us to get out. After we ran out of the Hospital Wing, Harry unfolded the piece of paper and read, "'Of the many fearsome beasts that roam our land, none is more deadly than the Basilisk. Capable of living for hundreds of years, instant death awaits any who meet this giant serpent's eye. Spiders flee before it and only the crowing of the rooster can kill it.' Guys! This is it! The monster in the Chamber of Secrets is a Basilisk. That's why Elliot, Rachel and I can hear it speak. It's a snake!" stated Harry.

"But it kills by looking people in the eye. Why is it no one's dead?" asked Ron.

Harry frowned, contemplating this, then caught our reflection in the window. Then, he muttered softly, "Because no one did look it in the eye. Not directly at least... Colin saw it through his camera. Justin…Justin must've seen the Basilisk through Nearly Headless Nick! Nick got the full blast of it, but he's a ghost…he couldn't die again...And Hermione and Amanda...they had the mirror! I bet you anything they were using it to look round corners, in case it came along."

"And Mrs. Norris? I'm pretty sure she didn't have a camera or a mirror, Harry," I stated.

After thinking about it, Harry said, "The water... there was water on the floor that night. She only saw the Basilisk's reflection...The crowing of the rooster is fatal to it! That's why Hagrid's roosters were killed! Spiders flee before it! It all fits!"

"But how's the Basilisk been getting around? A dirty great snake. Someone would have seen..." began Ron.

"Hermione and Amanda answered that too," said Harry as he pointed to a small note scribbled in Amanda's handwriting on the page that read 'Pipes'.

"Pipes...? It's using the plumbing," said Ron disgustedly.

"Remember what Aragog said, about that girl fifty years ago? She died in a bathroom. What if she never left?" asked Harry.

After thinking about it, Ron and I chorused, "Moaning Myrtle!"

Harry nodded as McGonagall's voice echoed throughout the school, magically magnified. "All students are to return to their house dormitories at once. All teachers are to report to the second floor corridor, immediately."

Quickly, we ran to the second floor and hid behind a statue as McGonagall stood before the desecrated wall, surrounded by the rest of the staff. "As you can see, the Heir of Slytherin has left another message. Our worst fear has been realized. Two students have been taken by the monster into the Chamber itself. I'm afraid we shall have to send the students home. I'm afraid...this is the end of Hogwarts," she sighed.

Just then, Lockhart appeared out of nowhere. "So sorry, I dozed off. What have I missed?" he asked.

"Just the man we're looking for. A girl has been snatched by the monster, Lockhart. Your moment has come at last," sneered Snape.

"M-my m-moment?"

"Weren't you saying just last night that you've known all along where the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets is?" asked Snape.

I began to snicker. Snape was setting up Lockhart to show everyone the fraud he was. If I didn't despise him so much, I would probably treat him with a bit more respect. "D-did I? I don't recall..."

"That settles it. We'll leave it to you to deal with the monster, Gilderoy. Your skills, after all, are legend," stated McGonagall.

I was just about to burst out laughing when Ron shushed me. "V-very well. I'll…I'll be in my office, getting…getting ready," stuttered Lockhart as he walked, more like ran away.

"The rest of us should go and inform the students what has happened," explained McGonagall.

"Who is it the monster's taken, Minerva?" asked Madam Pomfrey.

"Ginny Weasley and Rachel Sinclair."

Ron's knees gave way, as did mine. As Harry caught Ron and I tumbled onto them, we fell to the floor and the staff scattered, revealing what was written on the wall. "Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever," I gasped.

"She knew something, Harry. She'd found out something about the Chamber of Secrets. That's why she was taken. I mean, she was…is…a pure-blood. There can't be any other reason," explained Ron.

"And what about Rachel?" I asked.

"C'mon! Let's go see Lockhart. He may be a brainless git, but he's going to try and get into the Chamber. We can tell him what we know..." explained Harry as he led us towards the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. "Harry. D'you think there's any chance at all they're not, you know…" began Ron.

We glanced over and studied Ron's tortured eyes. "We'll find them, Ron. Ginny and Rachel are going to be fine," I replied.

Ron nodded, smiled shakily and looked away. As he did, my face changed, looking troubled. I didn't even believe what I just said. When we walked into Lockhart's office, Harry began to say, "Professor, we've got some information for you…"

And that's when we noticed Lockhart's office had been stripped to the shelves and two large trunks stood open. "Are you going somewhere?" asked Harry.

"Um, well, yes. Urgent call. Unavoidable. Got to go..." began Lockhart.

"What about my sister?" shouted Ron.

"And Rachel?" I continued.

"Well, as to that…most unfortunate. No one regrets more than I…"

"You're the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher! You can't go now!" interrupted Ron.

"I must say, when I took the job, nothing in the job description…"

"You're running away? After all that stuff you did in your books?" I asked.

"Books can be misleading."

"You wrote them!" shouted Harry.

"My dear boy, do use your common sense. My books wouldn't have sold half as well if people didn't think I'd done all those things. No one wants to read about some ugly old Armenian warlock, even if he did save a village from werewolves. He'd look dreadful on the front cover. No dress sense at all..."

"You're a fraud! You've just been taking credit for what a load of other wizards have done!" I shouted.

Ron leaned over and whispered in my ear, "Good call."

"Elliot, there was work involved. I had to track these people down and ask them exactly how they managed to do what they did. No, it's not all book signings and publicity photos. You want fame, you have to be prepared for a long, hard slog," explained Lockhart.

"Is there anything you can do?" asked Ron.

"Yes, now that you mention it. I'm rather gifted with Memory Charms. Otherwise, you see, all those wizards would've gone blabbing and I'd never have sold another book. I'm afraid I'll have to do the same to you three, lest you do the same."

Lockhart spun around with his wand in hand, but Harry was much quicker. "Expelliarmus!"

Lockhart blasted backwards, toppling into one of the open trunks. His wand flew across the floor. "Looks like those Dueling Lessons came in handy after all, Professor," I laughed as Ron pocketed his wand and we pointed ours at him.

Quickly, Ron and I dragged Lockhart onto his feet and led him to the Girl's Bathroom. When we arrived, we saw Moaning Myrtle floating above the cistern. "Who's there? Oh…Hello, Harry. What do you want?" she asked.

Ron and I chuckled. She was flirting with Harry! "To ask you how you died," replied Harry.

"Oooooh, it was dreadful. It happened right here, in this very cubicle. I'd hidden because Olive Hornby was teasing me about my glasses. I was crying, and then I heard somebody come in."

"Who was it, Myrtle?" I asked.

"I don't know! I was distraught! But they said something funny. A kind of made-up language. And I realized it was a boy speaking. So I unlocked the door, to tell him to go away, and... I died."

"Just like that? How?" asked Harry.

"No idea. I just remember seeing a pair of great big yellow eyes. Over there...by that sink," said Myrtle as she pointed to the bank of sinks. Harry went over and examined the sinks. Then, Harry saw it. Etched on the copper tap is a tiny snake. "This is it. This is the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets," said Harry.

"Say something, Harry. Say something in Parseltongue," encouraged Ron.

Harry looked at us and then at the tap. And then he said, "Open up."

Ron shook his heads. "English," Ron stated.

Harry concentrated harder this time, staring so intensely. When she finally spoke, it sounded more like a hiss. Just then, the circular group of sinks opened and a large, open pipe was exposed. As the sink disappeared to allow an entrance, Lockhart spoke up, "Excellent kids. Good work. Well then. I'll just be going. There's no need for me..."

"Oh, yes there is. You first," replied Harry.

Harry pointed his wand at Lockhart and then at the opening. "Now, what good will it do?" he asked.

"A bloody lot of good if it's a two-hundred-foot drop onto jagged rocks," explained Ron.

Lockhart stepped grimly to the dark, gaping hole. Finally, I gave him a shove and he toppled headfirst into the pipe and out of sight. You have no idea how good it felt to push him into the well. We waited until we finally heard, "It's really quite filthy down here.

"All right. Let's go," said Harry.

We were just about to jump in when Myrtle said, "Oh, Harry... if you die down there, you're welcome to share my toilet."

"Thanks, Myrtle," replied Harry as Ron and I laughed. We quickly jumped in and before we knew it, we were sliding down wicked fast in a hair-raising vertical plummet, catching glimpses of other pipes branching off in all directions. We continued to twist and turn until the pipe leveled off and dumped us onto the dame floor of the stone tunnel. I had landed on top of Ron and Harry on top of me. Lockhart stared miserably at the muck dripping from his robes as Harry took a torch from the wall and poised his wand. Ron and I stood up and pointed our wands at Lockhart. "_Lumos!_" said Harry as a torched bloomed with a bright orange flame, "Remember. Any sign of movement, close your eyes straight away."

Harry and I were about to lead the way down the tunnel while Ron pushed Lockhart forward when we heard a loud crunch. We looked down to see a rat's skulls, all around us. I squinted to see something huge and curved lying ahead. When I spoke, my voice was hollow with dread…and fear. "What's that? Up ahead?" I squeaked.

"That looks like a... snake," replied Lockhart as he hid his eyes.

I jumped back terrified into Harry's arms. I hate snakes. But the snake wasn't moving. "Maybe it's asleep," stated Harry as he pushed me away.

When Harry shone his light, he revealed a gigantic coil of empty skin. I sighed with relief as Ron stated so bluntly, "Bloody hell. Whatever shed this must be twenty feet long. Or more."

Suddenly, a loud thud echoed in the hall. When we turned, we found out that Lockhart had just passed out. "Heart of a lion, this one," stated Ron as he knelt next to him.

Just then, Lockhart's eyes opened and, quick as a fox, he snatched Ron's wand and scrambled to his feet. "The adventure ends here, boys and girl! But don't fret. The world will know our story. How I was too late to save the girls. How you three tragically lost your minds at the sight of their mangled bodies. I'll even bind a limited edition in this snake skin. Now, Ms. Potter, you first, say goodbye to your memories. _Obliviate_!" he shouted as he pointed his wand at me.

Ron's wand exploded like a small bomb, blasting Lockhart off his feet and spitting great jets of fire into the rock above. As rubble rained, Ron stepped back while Harry and I jumped the opposite way. As the dust settled, Harry and I sat up to see a solid wall of broken rubble sealing the wall between us and Ron. "Ron! Are you okay?" shouted Harry.

"I'm okay. This git's not, though. He got blasted by my wand," laughed Ron.

Harry and I listened as we heard another thud. "What happened?" I asked.

"I hit Lockhart over the head with a rock! What now?" asked Ron.

"Wait here. Elliot and I will go on. We'll go on and...find Ginny Rachel. If we're not back in an hour..." but Harry just left it off there.

"I'll try and shift some of this rock so you two can get back through. And, Elliot…" began Ron.

"See you in a bit," I shouted, quickly interrupting him as Harry and I began to weave our way through the Chamber of Secrets.

Carefully, Harry and I glanced at the snake skin at our feet and then moved on. We continued walking until we reached a towering stone wall, carved with twin serpents. I looked at Harry and said, "Why don't you do the honors?"

Harry nodded and then hissed, "Open."

The serpents parted and the giant wall slid open. Harry and I removed our wands and entered. It was a vast chamber that stretched ahead. Along the path were rows of stone serpents that rested in pools of black water. I cowered near Harry, afraid of these snakes. Why did I have to go into a chamber filled with snakes? Ahead of us was an enormous statue of Salazar Slytherin. Several feet in front of the statue was two girls lying motionless…a girl with flaming red hair and one with jet black hair. "Ginny! Rachel!" Harry cried as we ran up to them.

As we dashed up to them, Harry took Ginny in his arms and placed his wand on the floor as I took Rachel in mine and placed my wand next to his as Harry cried, "Ginny! Rachel! Please don't be dead. Wake up! Wake up! Ginny! Rachel!"

"Oh come on, guys, now is not the time to be fooling around," I shouted.

"They won't wake," came a soft voice.

Harry and I spun around to see a boy with black hair standing nearby. "Tom... Tom Riddle? What d'you mean, they won't wake? They're not..." began Harry.

"They're still alive. But only just," was Riddle's reply.

"Wait, you mean this is the same Tom Riddle that lived fifty years ago, framed Hagrid and left his diary behind?" I asked.

Harry nodded at me. "Then, are you a ghost?" I asked.

"A memory. Preserved in a diary for fifty years."

We looked down and saw his diary in Ginny's lifeless hands. "Yeah, that makes sense," I muttered as Harry placed his hand on Ginny's arm and replied, "She's cold as ice. You've got to help us, Tom. There's a basilisk…"

"It won't come until it's called."

Harry and I looked up to see Riddle twirling our wands in his fingers. "Give us our wands, Tom," said Harry.

"You won't be needing them."

"Listen, we've got to go! We've got to save them!" I shouted.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Elliot. You see, as poor Ginny and Rachel grow weaker... I grow stronger."

"But they're dying!" shouted Harry.

"Yes. I'm afraid so. But then, Ginny's been in so much pain. Poor Ginny. She's been writing to me for months, telling me all her pitiful worries and woes. How her brothers teased her, how she had to come to school with secondhand robes and books, how she didn't think that the famous Harry Potter was ever going to like her."

"Wait, so Ginny likes Harry? Oh man, wait until Ron and Ra…" I began to laugh when Harry silenced me with an elbow to the stomach. Riddle continued. "Ginny poured her soul out to me. I grew stronger on a diet of her deepest fears, her darkest secrets. I grew powerful enough to start feeding Ginny a few secrets, to start pouring a bit of my soul back into her..."

Riddle then grinned cruelly. "Yes, it was Ginny Weasley who opened the Chamber of Secrets."

"No... she couldn't…she wouldn't," said Harry.

"It was Ginny who set the Basilisk on the Mudbloods and the Squib's cat. Ginny who wrote threatening messages on the walls Ginny who kidnapped Rachel and dragged her down here so that I may feed off of her soul as well and make the transition back to a living soul much more quickly."

"But... Why...?" I asked.

"Because I told her to. You'll find that I can be very persuasive. Not that she knew what she was doing. She was, shall we say, in a kind of trance. Still, the power of the diary began to scare her and she tried to dispose of it in the girls' bathroom. But then, who should find it... but you two. The very people I was most anxious to meet."

"And why did you want to meet us?" gritted Harry.

"Ginny told me all about you two. I knew I had to talk to you, meet you if I could. So I decided to show you my capture of that brainless oaf, Hagrid, to gain your trust."

"Hagrid's our friend. And you framed him, didn't you?" I shouted.

"It was my word against Hagrid's. Only Dumbledore seemed to think Hagrid was innocent."

"I'll bet Dumbledore saw right through you," sneered Harry.

I had to laugh because Riddle's face was priceless. "He certainly kept an annoyingly close watch on me after that. And then I knew it wouldn't be safe to open the Chamber again while I was still at school. So I decided to leave behind a diary, preserving my sixteen-year-old self in its pages, so that one day... I would be able to lead another to finish Salazar Slytherin's noble work."

"Well, you haven't finished it this time. In a few hours Mandrake Draught will be ready and everyone who was petrified will be all right again," I sneered.

"Haven't I told you, that killing Mudbloods doesn't matter to me anymore? For many months now, my new target has been... you two. Imagine my disappointment when I learned Ginny had stolen the diary back from you."

"Ginny stole the diary from my room? But why?" asked Harry.

"She was afraid. Afraid you'd learn how to work the diary. Afraid I'd tell you just who it was that had been strangling all those roosters."

Horrified, Harry and I glanced at Ginny and Rachel, who were growing paler, and then back to Riddle, who is growing more solid. "Come now, Harry. Don't look so disappointed. Had Ginny succeeded in destroying the diary, she would have destroyed me. And we couldn't be having this little talk. And I have so many questions for you two."

"Like what?" I asked.

"Well, how is it that a baby boy and girl with no extraordinary magical talent managed to defeat the greatest wizard of all time? How did you two escape with nothing but a scar, while Lord Voldemort's powers were destroyed?"

"I don't have a scar!" I shouted.

"Why do you care how we escaped? Voldemort was after your time."

"I want to know how you two escaped because Voldemort is my past, present and future."

Riddle then pulled a wand from his pocket. Harry's and mine were exactly the same, but after I was confined to my room for turning Percy's shampoo a bright green by scientific means and not magic, I had inscribed my name into the handle of mine with gold letters…and it was my wand that Riddle drew out. Riddle began to trace it through the air, writing three words in flaming letters: TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE. It was then that I realized it was an anagram. Riddle waved my wand and re-arranged the letters to read: I AM LORD VOLDEMORT. "You? You're the heir of Slytherin? You're Voldemort?" asked Harry.

"Surely you didn't think I would keep my filthy Muggle father's name? No, I fashioned myself a new name, a name I knew wizards everywhere would one day fear to speak, when I became the greatest sorcerer in the world."

"Albus Dumbledore is the greatest sorcerer in the world!" I shouted back.

"Dumbledore's been driven out of this castle by the mere memory of me."

"He'll never be gone! Not as long as those who remain are loyal to him!" replied Harry, quoting Dumbledore's last words in Hagrid's hut. Suddenly, the sound of a phoenix echoed through the chamber. Flying above us was Fawkes, carrying something in his golden talons. "Fawkes," I sighed with relief as Fawkes flew towards Harry and dropped the ragged bundle at our feet.

When Harry picked it up, we saw that it was the Sorting Hat. "This is what Dumbledore sends his defenders! A songbird and an old hat!"

Riddle then turned to Salazar's statue and said in Parseltongue, "Speak to me, Slytherin."

Suddenly, the stone face's mouth opened and a rumbling sound came, followed by the sound of slithering. We turn away as the Basilisk spilled out, uncoiling heavily to the floor. The shadow of the serpent was visible on the wall. "Let's match the powers of Lord Voldemort, Heir of Salazar Slytherin, against the famous Harry and Elliot Potter, shall we?"

Then, Riddle's voice spoke in Parseltongue, "Kill them!"

The serpent shot forward as we ran away. "Parseltongue won't save you now. The Basilisk only obeys me."

"Don't look. Don't look into its eyes," Harry reminded me. We raced along the stone path, but the giant serpent was faster. As I tailed Harry, Harry tripped and I tripped over him. Suddenly, Fawkes screeched and soared towards the Basilisk. From what I could tell from the shadows, Fawkes was confusing the serpent by circling it. Then, Fawkes drove its talons deep into the serpents glittering eyes. The Basilisk roared with pain as Fawkes flew away. When we turned, we saw the Basilisk's eyes bloody and blind. "Fool! Think you're safe! It can still hear you!"

Quickly, we fled, the serpent thundering after us, striking blindly as it whipped its tail, shattering a snake statue. We dodged and ducked as we run through a tunnel. The Basilisk was about to strike when we leapt into a side tunnel. It was, unfortunately, a dead end. We were so dead. The snake slithered in, its fangs mere inches from us. Then, I thought of an idea. I turned to Harry and mouthed, "I'll make a run for it, you go get Ginny and Rachel…don't wait for me."

Before Harry could stop me, I silently ran past the Basilisk and then shouted, "Ha-ha! You can't catch me!"

The serpent then came straight at me. I threw a rock further down the tunnel and leapt into another alcove. As soon as it was gone, I ran out to find Harry leaning over Ginny and Rachel. "Yes, Potter. The process is nearly complete. In a few minutes, Ginny Weasley and Rachel Sinclair will be dead. And I will cease to be a memory. Lord Voldemort will return. Very much... alive."

Suddenly, the Basilisk shot out of the tunnel, hissing directly in front of us. Trapped, we glanced around and leapt towards the statue of Salazar Slytherin. The serpent began to strike madly, but we continued on, climbing boldly until we reached the top. When we turned, we saw the Sorting Hat with a ruby handle of a sword sticking out of it. Harry grabbed the sword first and was about to strike when the Basilisk's fangs create a gash in Harry's leg. Harry dropped the sword and held his leg as the sword began to fall off the edge. Thinking quickly, I grabbed the sword and as the serpent was about to attack me, I drove it through the serpent's mouth. A sheering pain erupted through my arm and as I withdrew the sword, I saw a fang from the Basilisk embedded into my arm. The snake suddenly fell into the pool beneath, dead. I helped Harry down off the statue and we limped towards Ginny and Rachel. Suddenly, we collapsed and I began to feel very weak and cold. "Remarkable, isn't it? How quickly the venom of the Basilisk penetrates the body? If you have any final words, Harry and Elliot Potter, you'd best speak them now. I'd guess you have little more than a minute to live."

I blinked heavily, watching as the skin on my forearm turned a troubling gray. "So ends the famous Harry and Elliot Potter. On their knees in the Chamber of Secrets. Defeated at last by the Dark Lord they so unwisely challenged. You'll be back with your dear Mudblood mother soon..."

As he talked, Harry and I glanced at Ginny and Rachel, both nearly white like a small ghost. I saw that Ginny was still clenching the diary firmly. I began to crawl near her and took the diary from her hands as Riddle continued. "Funny, isn't it? The damage a silly little book can do? Especially in the hands of a silly little girl."

Harry placed his hand on Ginny's as I opened the book and took the fang in my hand and held it over the open pages. "What are you doing? No. Stop..."

Riddle's face creased with fear as he lunged forward, but I was too quick. I plunged the fang into the book, causing ink to spurt from the pages. "No!"

Riddle shrieked as his body began to wither. As the ink ran onto the floor, Harry took the fang from my hand and stabbed the book once more. Finally, Riddle disappeared in a blinding light. As soon as he was gone, there was a soft moan. We looked over and saw that Ginny's and Rachel's color were back and their eyes were opening. "Rachel!" I cried as I hugged her weakly.

"Harry! Elliot! It was me! But I swear, I didn't mean to... Riddle made me. He wrote to me... took me over...I didn't even know whose diary it was. I found it inside my cauldron. The day we all went to Diagon Alley and...You're both hurt..." she sobbed.

And then I remembered that I thought I saw Lucius slip another book into Ginny's cauldron. I was about to speak when Harry said, "Ginny, Rachel, you need to get yourselves out... Follow the chamber...You'll find Ron..."

Suddenly, Fawkes appeared and laid his head on my arm. "You were brilliant, Fawkes. We just... weren't quick enough," I replied.

Tears began to trickle down onto my arm and almost instantly, my wound began to heal itself. Fawkes then turned to Harry and dripped tears onto his leg. "Of course. Dumbledore told us Phoenix tears have healing powers. It's all right, guys. It's over," smiled Harry.

"It's just a memory..." I finished.

With Fawkes gliding gracefully ahead of us, Harry helped Ginny out as Rachel and I led them up to the giant of rubble. We heard rock shifting and then saw Ron's face appear. "Ginny! Rachel!" shouted Ron.

He wriggled through and rushed towards us. I had expected Ron to go for Ginny first, but instead, he wrapped his arms around me and began to squeeze. "You're alive. I can't believe it," smiled Ron as he let go of me and moved to Ginny.

As Ron hugged Ginny, Ginny cried, "I'm going to be expelled, I just know it!"

"Remind you of anyone?" I asked Ron.

"Where's Lockhart?" asked Harry.

And that's when we saw Lockhart, sitting by himself and humming. "His Memory Charm backfired. Hasn't got a clue who he is. I keep having to stop him from wandering off. He's a danger to himself," said Ron.

"Hello. Odd sort of place, this, isn't it? Do you live here?" Lockhart asked.

"No," Ron replied as he turned and raised his eyebrows at me and Harry. We looked upward and saw an opening, hundreds of feet above us. Just then, Fawkes circled back, fluttering in front of us. "What's with the bird?" asked Ron.

"I think... I think he's telling me he can take us out of here," replied Harry.

So, Fawkes grabbed a hold of Lockhart's coat as Rachel held onto him, Ron holding on to Rachel, my hand clasped around Ron's fingers and Harry carrying Ginny as he wrapped his free arm around me. "Amazing! This is just like magic!" shouted Lockhart.

We all hung on for dear life as Fawkes brought us back to the safety of the castle.

TBC…


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

When we had arrived back in the girl's bathroom, Harry, Ron, I were all covered in muck and slime. We decided to head to McGonagall's office and tell her of Ginny's and Rachel's rescue when Dumbledore walked up to us and led us to his office. Inside, Fawkes was perched on a pedestal behind Dumbledore, who was sitting at his desk, examining the ruined diary. He looked up, regarding us gravely. "Ingenious. Simply... ingenious. Of course, Tom Riddle was probably the most brilliant student Hogwarts has ever seen. I taught him myself fifty years ago. After he left, I would occasionally hear stories of his activities -- dark rumors -- but after awhile, even the rumors stopped. When he finally resurfaced as Lord Voldemort, most people had completely forgotten the clever Head Boy he'd once been," explained Dumbledore.

"I didn't know whose diary it was, sir. I swear. I found it inside my cauldron. The day we all went to Diagon Alley," said Ginny as she sat next to Rachel in front of us.

I leant over and whispered in Harry's ear, "Lucius Malfoy's doing."

"But I understand if... given all the trouble I've caused... if you…" began Ginny.

**"**Wiser wizards than you have been hoodwinked by Lord Voldemort, Miss Weasley. No, I think you've endured enough. I would suggest a bit of bed rest, however. And perhaps a large mug of hot chocolate. I always find that cheers me up. Minerva, will you show Arthur and Molly up to the hospital wing and would you take Miss Weasley and Miss Sinclair up there as well?"

"Certainly, Albus," replied McGonagall as she led Ginny and Rachel to the Hospital Wing. As we watched them go, Mrs. Weasley's voice echoed, "A diary that writes back to you! Honestly, Ginny! What were you thinking? Haven't I always told you? Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain!"

We turned back to see Dumbledore regarding us gravely. "You three realize, of course, that in the last few hours, you have broken perhaps a dozen school rules?"

**"**Yes, sir," we replied in unison.

**"**And that there is sufficient evidence to expel all of you?"

**"**Yes, sir."

**"**Therefore, it seems only fitting…That you four receive Special Awards for Services to the School. And -- let me see -- yes, I think one hundred points apiece, which, I believe, should be more than enough to secure Gryffindor the House Cup."

**"**Thank you, sir," we chorused.

"Now, Mr. Weasley, if you would, have an owl deliver these release papers to Azkaban. We need our gamekeeper back and then would be so kind as to escort Professor Lockhart down the Hospital Wing?" asked Dumbledore.

Ron nodded as he took the envelope and led a completely fascinated Lockhart. "First, Harry and Elliot, I want to thank you. You must have shown me real loyalty down in the Chamber. Nothing but that could have called Fawkes to you. Secondly, I sense you're both troubled by something. Am I right?"

I nodded at Harry to explain it. **"**It's just, you see, sir, I couldn't help noticing certain things. Certain similarities, between Tom Riddle and us."

**"**You can both speak Parseltongue, Harry, because Lord Voldemort can speak Parseltongue. Unless I'm much mistaken, he transformed some of his own powers to both you the nights he tried to kill both of you."

**"**Wait, if Voldemort tried to kill both of us two different nights, then how come he didn't disappear after trying to kill me?"

"Maybe you only made him weaker, but I am not certain. I am very certain that both times, he transferred power to both of you."

**"**Voldemort put a bit of himself in us?" asked Harry.

**"**Not intentionally, but... yes."

**"**So the Sorting Hat was right. We should be a Slytherin," I stated.

**"**It's true. You both possess many of the qualities Voldemort himself prizes. Resourcefulness. Determination. A certain disregard for the rules. Yet the Sorting Hat placed you in Gryffindor."

**"**Only because we asked it to," replied Harry.

**"**Exactly. Which makes you very different from Voldemort. It's not our abilities that show what we truly are, Harry. It's our choices. If you want proof that you both belong in Gryffindor, I suggest you look more closely at this."

Dumbledore handed the bloodstained sword to us. An engraved name glimmered above the ruby-encrusted hilt. "'Godric Gryffindor.'" Harry read.

**"**Only a true Gryffindor could have pulled that out of the Hat."

Suddenly, Lucius Malfoy entered, dragging Dobby by the ear. **"**Dobby! This is your Master? The family you serve is the Malfoys!" I shouted.

Dobby nodded in fear as Lucius Malfoy brushed past us. "Out of my way, Potter. So! You've returned!"

**"**Yes. When the governors heard that Arthur Weasley's daughter had been taken into the Chamber, they saw fit to summon me back. Curiously, several of them seemed under the impression that you would curse their families if they didn't agree to suspend me in the first place, Lucius."

I chuckled. Hagrid was right…what a dirty rotten git! "From the beginning, my only concern has been the welfare of this school and its students. I assume the culprit has been identified."

**"**Oh yes. It was Voldemort. Only this time, he chose to act through someone else. By means of...this."

Dumbledore nudged the diary toward Malfoy. We could see Dobby nodding meaningfully from the diary to Lucius. "Fortunately, our young Mr. Potter and Miss Croft discovered it. One only hopes that no more of Lord Voldemort's old school things find their way into innocent hands. The consequences for the one responsible could be...severe."

Lucius Malfoy stared icily at Dumbledore, and then turned away. "Come, Dobby. We're leaving."

As Dobby scuttled toward the door, Lucius Malfoy kicked him through it, and then left himself. We stared at the empty doorway as Dobby's painful squeals echoed from the corridor. "Sir? I wonder if we could have that," asked Harry.

Dumbledore looked up and followed Harry's eyes to the diary. After he nodded, Harry turned to me and whispered, "Give me a sock."

Knowing his intentions, I took off one of my socks as he took off his other one and we stuffed them into the book. Quickly, we rode down the elevator and dashed over to Malfoy and Dobby. "Mr. Malfoy! I have something of yours," shouted Harry as we ran up, thrusting the diary into Malfoy's hands. "Mine? I don't know what you're talking about."

**"**I think you do, sir. I think you slipped it into Ginny Weasley's cauldron that day in Diagon Alley," I explained.

Malfoy shoved the diary into Dobby's face, then leant close to me and, with a nasty grin, whispered, "Prove it!"

He turned away as Dobby looked sadly back, clutching the diary in his hand. Harry then mouthed the words "Open it."

Dobby looked down curiously and when he opened it, inside he saw a pair of socks. He gasped. "Dobby! Dobby, come!" shouted Mr. Malfoy.

"Master has given Dobby a sock. Master has presented Dobby with clothes. Dobby is... free!"

**"**What? I didn't --" he said as he wheeled around and saw us standing with one leg crossed, our right ankles bare. Instantly, Malfoy charged forth. "You've lost me my servant!"

**"**You shall not harm Harry and Elliot Potter!" shouted Dobby.

Dobby stepped between us and BANG! Malfoy flew backwards, landing in a crumpled heap. Rising, he stared murderously at us. "Mark my words, Harry and Elliot Potter. You'll meet the same sticky end as your parents one of these days. They were meddlesome fools too."

With that, he turned away. Quickly, I shouted, "I'M NOT ELLIOT POTTER! IT'S ELLIOT CROFT!"

Dobby then turned to us and said, "Harry and Elliot Potter freed Dobby! How can Dobby ever repay them?"

**"**Just promise us something," began Harry.

**"**Anything, sir."

**"**Never try to save our lives again," I said instead of 'Don't call me Elliot Potter'.

Dobby grinned and then, crack…he was gone.

TBC…


	14. Chapter 14

**Here's the final and...very short, concluding chapter to this story. I will have the next installment up as soon as I feel like posting it...oh, and it is my friends, ****horns-halos4ever birthday, so go wish her happy birthday and whatnot...and tell her it's my fault that her inbox is overflowing with happy birthday messages...MUWAHAHA!**

**Chapter 14**

Fear and suspicion banished, the House tables buzzed with excitement and anticipation... all except the Slytherins, who did not share the general feeling. Seated at the tables were the formerly petrified, revived students. Justin Finch-Fletchley joined his fellow Hufflepuffs as Colin Creevey snapped photos of the proceedings. At the rear of the hall, standing near the entrance, Filch was reunited with Mrs. Norris. Then... Hermione and Amanda entered, searching the room for us. Finally, they saw us and smiled as they ran forward and embraced each and every one of us. "You solved it! You solved it!" smiled Hermione.

**"**With loads of help from you," replied Harry as Hermione turned to embrace Ron. They paused and an awkward moment erupted between them until they shook hands. "Welcome back, Hermione," said Ron.

McGonagall tapped her goblet as Dumbledore stood up. "Before we begin our feast, let's give a round of applause to Professor Sprout and Madame Pomfrey, whose Mandrake Juice has been successfully administered to all those who had been petrified. Also, in the wake of recent events, as a school treat, all exams have been cancelled."

Everyone cheered, save for Hermione and Amanda. At the rear of the Hall, the great doors opened to reveal Hagrid. He entered and then stopped, looking around the room. The room fell silent as all of the eyes set upon him. He glanced around, nervous and embarrassed. "Sorry I'm late. The owl deliverin' my release papers got all lost 'n confused. Some ruddy bird named Errol."

Ron exchanged a nervous glance with Dumbledore and me as I let out a laugh. Hagrid looked at all of the faces staring at him and then he turned to us. "I jus' want to say... that if it wasn't fer' all of you... Well, I jus' want to say... Thanks."

**"**There's no Hogwarts without you, Hagrid," I replied as we each gave him a great big hug. Just then... Dumbledore got to his feet and... slowly...brought his hands together. The others joined him. Soon, everyone was on their feet and the Hall roared with applause. As the students surround Hagrid, he blinks, wipes at his eyes. Everything was back to the way it was before.

**The End**


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